Confidentiality-copyrights interplay in entertainment

The need to determine authorship is of paramount importance for the commercialization of intellectual property. Confidentiality and copyright are different areas of law, which seldom coincide when it comes to protecting originality or the “idea” in a concept in the realm of confidential relationships.

The equitable doctrine of confidentiality states that information received in confidence should not be unfairly exploited by wrongful use. It has long been clear that the courts can restrain a breach of confidence arising out of a contract or any right to property. In the entertainment market, writers and production houses frequently exchange content in the form of scripts, screenplays, plots, etc., with a mere promise of confidence, which can lead to misuse of confidential information and hence breach of trust.

Section 16 of India’s Copyright Act states that though no one shall be entitled to copyright or any similar right in any work, whether published or unpublished, otherwise than under and in accordance with the act, that does not imply the abrogation of “any right or jurisdiction to restrain a breach of trust or confidence”. While copyright safeguards the expression of an idea, breach of trust/confidence protects the expressed idea when communicated to a third party.

Manisha Singh is a founding partner of LexOrbis, where Shristi Bansal is an associate.