A Trademark and Copyright Conflict in Movies and Books

Introduction
 

Reading books and watching movies are two of the most common pleasures. People frequently engaged in these two activities, especially during the lockdown. During this time, there was a significant growth in the number of subscribers to OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
 

The number of books and movies released each year is just as large as the number of people who read books and watch movies. Every year, millions of books are written, and a sizable number of films are produced. In such a situation, it is challenging to make sure that the names of the books and movies are original and not already in use by other books or films.

It is essential for authors to pursue intellectual property rights in order to prevent the title of a book or movie from being repeated by another author or filmmaker. Yet the issue is, under what legal provisions may these titles be safeguarded? Trademark or copyright, which is it?

Reading books and watching movies are two of the most common pleasures. People frequently engaged in these two activities, especially during the lockdown. During this time, there was a significant growth in the number of subscribers to OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others. The number of books and movies released each year is just as large as the number of people who read books and watch movies.
 

Every year, millions of books are written, and a sizable number of films are produced. In such a situation, it is challenging to make sure that the names of the books and movies are original and not already in use by other books or films.
 

It is essential for authors to pursue intellectual property rights in order to prevent the title of a book or movie from being repeated by another author or filmmaker. Yet the issue is, under what legal provisions may these titles be safeguarded? Trademark or copyright, which is it?
 

Confusion between Trademark and Copyright concerning Titles

It is crucial to first comprehend the distinctions between these two rights in light of the growing discussion around trademark and copyright. Any mark that may differentiate one person's goods or services from those of others and can be represented visually, including their shape, packaging, colour scheme, etc., is referred to be a trademark under Section 2 (1)(zb). As stated in Section 13, copyright covers creative, literary, musical, and dramatic works as well.
 

The Supreme Court noted in a recent ruling in Krishika Lulla v. Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta that the phrase "Title" does not constitute as a "literary work" for which copyright is given in accordance with Section 13. According to the case's circumstances, the plaintiff claimed that the defendants had violated their copyright by distributing the movie "Desi Boyz" and asserted their ownership of the moniker "Desi Boys." The court stated in its ruling that since copyright is only awarded for unique words and the phrases "Desi" and "Boys" are so widely used that they lack any originality, they do not meet the criteria for "literary work."
 

In the case of Kanungo Media (P) Ltd. v. RGV Film Factory & Ors., the plaintiff asserted that the movie's title, "Nisshabd," is protected by copyright and that no one else may use it. The Delhi High Court rejected the claim and held that just duplicating the title—not the storyline, the cast of characters, the music, etc.—could be covered by copyright since the title by itself is not considered to be a literary work.
 

By applying the same logic to book titles, it becomes abundantly evident that, like movie titles, they cannot be protected by copyright since the title is a term with numerous meanings and because different writers may use the same title in various ways. Hence, the titles of books or movies cannot qualify as ‘literary work’ and thus, cannot be granted copyright protection.

But, as the court explained in the Kanungo case, titles may be given trademark protection under class 41 of the Trademark Act, 1999. It is forbidden to use the titles of cinematographic works in a way that can lead to misunderstandings among the public. According to the circumstances, trademarks may be issued for names in either a single work or a series of works. In the case of a single work, it must be demonstrated that the title of the book or movie has taken on a secondary meaning in people's thoughts. Series indicate the same source for each installment, making it simple to have the trademark registered.
 

The debate between Trademark and Copyright
 

The significance of intellectual property has greatly expanded with the rapid growth of start-ups, technological advancement, and human ingenuity. The intellectual property, which was previously restricted to patents, copiesrights, geographical indications, and trademarks, has now been expanded to encompass designs and trade secrets. This is done to preserve the rights of individuals and to promote innovation and creativity. But, when one right begins to trump another in prominence, contention over which right comes first also grows. The conflict between a trademark and a copyright is one such instance.
 

Even though it's clear right away that a trademark and a copyright are two separate rights covered by entirely different laws, Although trademarks are provided for the protection of brand names, slogans, logos, signs, symbols, etc. to distinguish one product from another, copyrights are issued for the protection of creative works such as literary, artistic, musical, dramatic, etc. Nonetheless, despite this distinction, there is a significant amount of current dispute between these two rights, making it occasionally difficult to decide whether a person needs a trademark or copyright.
 

These overlapping circumstances frequently occur in the context of logos, artistic signs, slogans, brief words, and other such items. When an organization's trademark consists of a logo, colour scheme, or letter and when that logo, colour scheme, or letter represents a creative expression, it becomes subject to copyright in addition to the original trademark. Conflict between the two owners is likely to develop if, in this case, the owners of the trademark and copyright for the same logo, colour scheme, or letter are different.
 

A brand's logo, which differentiates its t-shirts from those of other companies, could be under the purview of a trademark, but if it is written artistically and represents a creative expression, it might also fall under the purview of copyright as an artistic work.

In the case of calligraphy work, this type of overlap is also possible. Calligraphy is a distinctive form of writing that qualifies as an artistic creation for the purposes of copyright protection. Nevertheless, if a particular organization's logo or emblem is created in a unique fashion utilising the same calligraphy, then the same would also need to be protected under the trademark, leading to yet another instance of overlapping.

Because there are so many instances of this overlap between trademark and copyright, it can be challenging to decide which right has to be protected. In such cases, people typically apply for both of them to protect their work from unauthorized usage.
 

Conclusion

In light of the foregoing, writers seeking to protect the names of their books and films under intellectual property from unauthorized use must register them under trademark law rather than copyright law as the latter does not provide a remedy in such a circumstance.

The aforementioned examples make clear that only the entire original work is protected by copyright; a title alone is not. Consequently, trademark registration should be chosen above copyright registration in order to prevent other writers from using the same term.