A Delhi Court recently restrained booksellers including Amazon Retail India Private Limited from publishing, selling, soliciting, networking, and supplying books that are deceptively similar to ‘Law of Torts’ by Dr. R.K. Bangia, published and sold by Allahabad Law Agency.
Vineeta Goyal, District Judge, Commercial Court, Saket passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction order in a suit filed by the legal publisher through Advocate Rounak Nayak. Court also appointed a local commissioner to seize and take charge of the pirated copies of books of Allahabad Law Agency from the premises of the defendant parties.
In pursuance of the court order, the local commissioner visited the premises of the defendants and seized several copies of the pirated books on 16 & 18 August 2022.
It was the case of the Allahabad Law Agency that several book-sellers were indulging in the sale of pirated, substandard copies of its books. It was submitted that Allahabad Law Agency acquired the copyright for publishing and selling ‘Law of Torts’ from the original owner of the copyright (late) Dr. RK Bangia by an agreement/assignment deed executed in August 1968.
Thereafter, in late 2021, the legal publisher received several complaints with respect to the quality of the book that was being published under the title of ‘Law of Torts’. Importantly, most of the complaints pertained to books sold through the e-commerce website of Amazon, the legal publisher claimed.
Upon further looking into the matter, the publisher found that several websites and sellers were publishing and selling identical and unauthorized copies of the book.
Before the court, the counsel for the publisher argued that the entire contents of the infringing books including the inner page, publication credits, and preface were verbatim reproduced without its permission.
Accordingly, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, Court found that a prima facie was made out in favour of the legal publisher and granted it the interim relief.
Court held, “It would suffer irreparable loss and injury not only in the present but having consequences in the long run, hence, the defendant, its proprietors, agents, representatives, directors, partners, assignees, dealers, retailers etc. and/or all other persons acting on their behalf, are restrained till further orders from publishing, selling, soliciting, networking, and supplying of the book titled “Law of Torts’ by Dr. R.K. Bangia” which are deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s book”.
The case is now posted on September 5 for further hearing.
Case Title: Allahabad Law Agency v. Amazon Retail India Pvt. Ltd. & Ors
