Delhi High Court restrains Drishyam 3 producer from creating third-party OTT rights on Amazon Prime's plea

The Delhi High Court recently granted relief to Amazon Prime Video and restrained Malayalam actor Mohanlal's production house, Aashirwad Cinemas, from entering into any agreement with any other party for creating over-the-top (OTT) rights in the Drishyam movie franchise [Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd Vs Aashirvad Cinemas & Ors]..In an ex-parte order passed on April 7, Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar protected the commercial interest of Amazon Seller Services (which owns and operates Amazon Prime in India) who moved the Court claiming that it had signed an agreement with Aashirwad Cinemas in 2020 reserving its rights over the future titles in the Drishyam movie franchise. “Till the next date of hearing, the Respondents are restrained from creating or otherwise dealing with any third-party rights in respect of the non-linear internet-based rights in the film tentatively titled Drishyam 3," the Court ordered..Drishyam is a popular movie franchise originally created in Malayalam starting with the 2013 Malayalam movie Drishyam.It was later remade into other languages including Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.The sequel Drishyam 2 was released in 2021 on Amazon Prime Video. The third instalment, Drishyam 3, is slated for release in May this year..In the petition filed by Amazon Seller Services Private Limited, it was stated that a master video licence agreement was signed with Aashirwad Cinemas in 2020 reserving its rights over the future titles in the Drishyam franchise. Amazon stated that as per an “Amazon Option” clause in the agreement, it has an exclusive first right for negotiating renewal of license if a new Drishyam movie is green-lit. It stated that under the said clause, Aashirvad Cinemas was precluded from engaging with any third party.Upon being notified of a third-party offer, Amazon entered into negotiation with Aashirwad Cinemas. However, the dispute arose when the production house unilaterally terminated the agreement during the negotiations, stating that it would proceed with alternative offers..Amazon then moved the Court under section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act seeking interim measures to protect its rights under the agreement. It sought directions to bar Aashirwad Cinemas from creating any third-party rights in the film tentatively titled ‘Drishyam 3’, its original Malayalam version, dubbed versions and Hindi remake.The Court on April 7 granted interim injunction in favour of Amazon..When the matter was subsequently heard on April 20, Amazon told the Court that the two are engaged in the process of settling the dispute and may reach a mutual settlement within two weeks.Accordingly, the Court listed the matter for further hearing on May 15. The interim injunction shall continue till then..Senior Advocate Amit Sibal with advocates Devvrat Joshi, Angad S Makkar and Ankit Handa appeared for Amazon.[Read order]