The copyright infringement suit filed by digital storytelling platform Humans of Bombay (HOB) against rival page People of India (POI) has been decreed.
That means? The Delhi High Court ended the matter on Wednesday, 11 October, after HOB did not object to POI running its platform as long as the latter does not copy its images, according to Bar and Bench.
The matter was heard by Justice Prathiba M Singh.
From the bench: "In so far as individual's private photos (i.e. when people send their photos from private collection to Humans of Bombay or POI), there can be no copyright claim for either of the platforms," the court reportedly observed.
"There cannot be any monopoly in running of a storytelling platform. But all platforms ought to adopt their own creative expression to communicate and disseminate the said stories," Justice Singh further said.
"Neither party insists on any damages from the other," she noted and decreed the suit.
Why it matters: After suing POI, Humans of Bombay was called out online as the platform itself emulates Humans of New York, which told stories in that specific format first. The controversy had also raised pertinent questions about the appropriation of art as well as its over-commercialisation.