Copyright Infringement Issue: Madras High Court Rejects Netflix’ Plea Against Actor Dhanush

The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed an application filed by Los Gatos, the Indian entity of the OTT platform Netflix, which sought to reject actor Dhanush’s copyright infringement lawsuit at the preliminary stage.

The lawsuit accuses well-known actor Nayanthara, her husband Vignesh Sivan, and others of using behind-the-scenes footage from Dhanush’s Tamil film Naanum Rowdy Daan without permission in the making of Nayanthara’s documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, which was streamed on Netflix.

Justice Abdul Quddhose dismissed Los Gatos’ application and scheduled the next hearing for February 5. The court will then hear an application from Dhanush’s production company, Wunderbar, seeking an interim injunction against Los Gatos and others involved in the case.

In his application, Dhanush claimed that footage from his film was used unauthorized in Nayanthara’s documentary, which aired on Netflix. As Netflix’s office is located in Mumbai, outside the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court, Dhanush had initially sought permission to sue Netflix in this court. The court granted him leave to sue, a decision Netflix contested.

Netflix argued that since the leave was granted only for Los Gatos and the company’s office was outside the court’s jurisdiction, Dhanush should have obtained permission to sue all defendants involved.

Netflix further contended that the lawsuit should have been filed in Kancheepuram, where the plaintiff’s office is located, and that leave was not specifically sought for actions that took place outside the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court.

In addition, Netflix sought the revocation of the leave to sue and the rejection of the plaint, arguing there was no urgency since the documentary had already been released. The OTT platform also suggested that Dhanush should have pursued mandatory pre-suit mediation before moving forward with the lawsuit.

The court disagreed with Netflix’s arguments and dismissed both applications, allowing Dhanush’s case to proceed.

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