Delhi HC restricts unauthorised use of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ content

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has banned the unauthorized use of the name, characters and content of the popular television show ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’.

The makers of the show, which has reportedly been on the air for over 16 years and has around 4,000 episodes, claimed that several companies were using the show’s names, images of characters, etc. for commercial purposes by running websites, selling merchandise and even posting “sexually explicit and vulgar” videos on YouTube.

In an interim order passed in a suit filed by the producer of the show against several known and unknown persons, Justice Mini Pushkarna stated that if the interim order was not granted, the plaintiff would face irreparable loss.

The plaintiff, Neela Film Productions Pvt Ltd, said it has legal rights over several trademarks registered in India related to its show and its characters, including some of its trademarks such as ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’, ‘Ooltah Chashmah’, ‘Taarak Mehta’, ‘Jethaalal’, ‘Gokuldhaam’, etc.

The court was informed that although the plaintiff owns the copyrights to his various characters and animations, some companies were illegally selling merchandise such as T-shirts, posters and stickers featuring images and dialogues of characters from the show through websites and e-commerce platforms.

It has also been claimed that content was generated through the use of artificial intelligence or deep fakes of characters as well as video games.

“An interim injunction is granted restraining defendant Nos. 1 to 12 and 14 to 21 from… publishing in any manner… on their websites… or offering for sale… the copyrighted material/registered trademarks of the plaintiff, including but not limited to the title, characters, format and underlying materials in the said show or anything else which otherwise amounts to infringement of the copyright/registered trademarks of the plaintiff/distribution of the goods/services offered by the defendants,” the court said in an order issued on August 14.

The court also ordered that YouTube videos containing characters or material from the show, including pornographic content, must be deleted by those who uploaded them.

If the infringing videos are not removed within 48 hours, the IT Ministry and the Telecommunications Department will ask the respective Internet service providers/intermediaries to block all links or videos, the court said.

In addition, the plaintiff was permitted to instruct YouTube to block/disable all infringing links and the platform was ordered to provide the plaintiff with the necessary information about the infringing uploaders.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.