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 of India running its portal as long as it did not copy its images.
Justice Singh said that there could not be a monopoly in running a storytelling platform, but that such groups should adopt “their own creative expression to communicate and disseminate their stories”. She directed both platforms not to use each other’s copyright material such as commissioned photos or videos, original stories and manner of expression.
In a post on Wednesday, Humans of Bombay founder Karishma Mehta expressed gratitude to the High Court and said the verdict would set a precedent for the creator community. She said that when the platform noticed the “plagiarism”, it reported it to social media conglomerate Meta, which took down 16 posts of People of India.
Mehta said that Humans of Bombay later tried to resolve the matter amicably but this “didn’t stop the plagiarism”.
People of India also said on Instagram that the High Court order was a “massive win”.
“Satyamev Jayate [truth alone prevails],” the platform asserted, adding that it was grateful for everyone who supported it.
On September 23, the founder of popular blog Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton, had chided Humans of Bombay for filing the suit.
“I’ve stayed quiet on the appropriation of my work because I think Humans Of Bombay shares important stories, even if they’ve monetised far past anything I’d feel comfortable doing on HONY,” Stanton wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “But you can’t be suing people for what I’ve forgiven you for.”
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