Humans of Bombay, People of India can’t use each other’s copyrighted work, rules Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed storytelling platforms Humans of Bombay and People of India not to use each other’s copyrighted work, Bar and Bench reported.

The court, however, held that there could be no copyright claims for private photographs of individuals who sent them to either of the platforms.

Last month, Humans of Bombay sued People of India for copyright infringement, alleging that it had identical content. Humans of Bombay also alleged that People of India replicated many photos and videos on its social media platforms.

In its suit, Humans of Bombay sought to restrain People of India from appropriating what it claimed was its “unique format of storytelling”.

On Wednesday, Justice Pratibha M Singh observed that while there could not be a copyright on an idea, imitating the expression of an idea could amount to copyright infringement.

People of India argued that Humans of Bombay could not claim copyright on the idea of such storytelling platforms as both portals were inspired by Humans of New York, according to Live Law. To this, the judge said that the key question was not who came up with the idea, but whether either litigant had copied the other’s specific content.

The High Court recorded a statement by Humans of Bombay that it would not object to People...

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