MUMBAI: Two years after its theatrical release, the Akshay Kumar starrer Singh Is Kinng, which was distributed by Studio 18 in India, is being sued in the US on grounds of copyright infringement. The case has been filed by American Rights Management Company against Viacom 18 US.
Maximum statutory damages to the tune of $30,000 per infringement, and/or $150,000 per willful infringement have been claimed.
As per the lawsuit (a copy of which is with Businessofcinema.com) filed in the New York District Court, the movie is “derived” from the 1929 short story Madame La Gimp by Damon Runyon. The lawsuit mentions that the film is also derived from the films Lady For A Day (Frank Capra), A Pocket Full Of Miracles (Capra) and Miracles (Jackie Chan), which are derivatives of the Madame La Gimp story.
The lawsuit states, “Singh Is Kinng copies the pattern, sequence and the selection and combination of elements directly from Madame La Gimp and indirectly from the above mentioned movies.”
Apart from Viacom 18 and Studio 18, third party companies like The Indian Film Company, Vipul Shah’s Blockbuster Entertainment (producer), Saavn, Reliance MediaWorks, BIG Home Video, MTV India and Viva Entertainment, who have been involved in with the film in various ways, have also been named in the lawsuit.
Singh Is Kinng was directed by Anees Bazmee and starred Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sonu Sood and Kirron Kher amongst others.
