Copyright Infringement Case Quashed by Supreme Court

*Copyright Infringement Case Quashed by Supreme Court*

*Intellectual Property Rights - Copyright Act, 1957 - Section 63 - Infringement of Copyright and Offence* -  Dealing with case of copyright infringement, it was held that "the principles governing summoning of an accused in a criminal case as well as parameters for quashing criminal proceedings are well-settled. Summoning of an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter and criminal law cannot be set into motion as a matter of course. It is not that the complainant has to bring only two witnesses to support his allegations in the complaint to have the criminal law set into motion. The order of the Magistrate summoning the accused must reflect application of mind to the facts of the case and the law applicable thereto. The Magistrate must carefully scrutinise the evidence brought on record and determine whether any offence is prima facie made out" - In this case, "CJM has even failed to record the satisfaction that there is any similarity between the appellant’s film and the complainant’s script. The summoning order, therefore, has been passed in mechanical manner and suffers from vice of non-application of mind."

Citation : *Sujoy Ghosh v. State of Jharkhand [2026] GCtR 240 (SC)*