The
Action Jackson title war is getting messier with each passing day.
Warner Bros. Pictures (India) Pvt Ltd has written a letter warning Baba
Arts Ltd (Gordhan Tanwani) that they cannot use the title for their Ajay
Devgn starrer. As reported earlier, Warner maintains that they have the
same title for their Craig R Baxley film, which had Carl Weathers and
Sharon Stone in the lead. And, the sole rights for the title lie with
them.
There’s
also another clever twist. The legal team representing Warner clearly
states that they are taking legal recourse on behalf of Warner Bros.
Entertainment Inc., which
is an independent entity and not a member of the Indian Film & TV
Producers’ Council. They have therefore made it clear that Warner Bros.
Pictures (India) will not attend a joint meeting, as suggested by the
Indian Producers’ Council, to settle the title dispute with Tanwani
since the warning has been issued on behalf of the parent studio.
So, where is the twist? An industry source explains that when studios like Warner Bros. Pictures (India) release their movies in India, they deal with local associations like the Indian Producers’ Council to register titles for the English films that they dub in Indian languages. They need a clearance from the Indian film associations to release their movies here. However, when it comes to fighting for their rights, in this case, for the title Action Jackson, the legal team has reportedly made it clear to Tanwani, that if he wishes to initiate any dialogue, it will be with their studio that is based in California.
There is one more development. Along with the title infringement issue, the foreign company has also asked for a copy of the screenplay of the Bollywood film, because this time around, they wish to ensure that there are no similarities between the original Hollywood film and the Bollywood one. TOI
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