Entertainment

SC gives landmark judgment on work of Chef Publis Silva

Published

11 months ago

June 14, 2023

editor

The Supreme Court recently gave a historical judgment with regard to the ownership of the copyright of a work of renowned Chef Publis Silva, which is relevant to authors, publishers and all other connected parties in the respective field.

Defendant Appelant in the case Sarasavi Publishers (Pvt) Ltd. Nugegoda made an appeal to the supreme court against a judgment delivered by the Commercial High Court in 2013, with regard to the owner of the copyright of the Sinhala book titled ‘Galkissa hotalaye Publis Silvage hela ratawata iwum pihum,’ a culinary skill book by Chef Publis Silva.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprised of Murdu N. B. Fernando PC, J. P. Padman Surasena and A.H.M.D. Nawaz delivered the judgment in favour of the books’ author and publishers respectively Chef Publis Silva and Sarasavi Publishers (Pvt) Ltd.

The content of the book that mainly dealt with the Sri Lanka culinary methods, is a brainchild of the veteran Chef Publis Silva based on his culinary skills and experience as an internationally renowned chef.

As detailed by him following a series of interviews providing necessary information to the compiler, the book had been compiled by Ms. Dharma S. Samaranayake, a former editor of a Sinhala newspaper. For her services editorial/compilation fee has been paid to her by the Sarasavi Publishers at the request of the Chef. The book was first published in 2005.

The copyright of the book was fully possessed by Chef Publis Silva. As the owner of the book he has entered into an agreement with Sarasavi Publishers. Based on conditions of that agreement Sarasavi Publishers paid royalties to Chef Publis Silva.

In 2008 after several years of publishing of the book even after its sixth edition, the compiler Ms. Dharma S. Samaranayake filed a case at High Court against Sarasavi Publishers claiming that she is the author of the book and hence royalties must be paid to her by Sarasavi Publishers.

The High Court gave a judgment in favour of her and declared that Compiler Ms. Dharma Samaranayake has the copyright of the book and issued a permanent injunction to the publishers preventing the publisher from publishing, distributing, possessing and sale of the book. Further, the court gave a direction to the publisher to make a payment to the compiler under the provisions of Intellectual Property Act.

Against the decision of the High Court, Sarasavi Publishers made an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2013. After hearing the appeal, considering the evidence and submissions made by all parties and also examining the previous judgment given by the High Court, the three judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously declared that the decision of the High court to declare the plaintiff/compiler – Ms. Dharma S. Samaranayake as the author, owner and copyright holder of the work is in error. They further stated that moreover, the relief granted to the plaintiff – Ms. Samaranayake is erroneous, ambiguous, imprecise and not in accordance with the law. Hence her request to enhance the damages for 12 prints was fully rejected by the Supreme Court.

Accordingly the three-judge bench gave a unanimous judgment to set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and also to dismiss the plaint made by the compiler Ms. Dharma S. Samaranayake with costs fixed at Rs.25,000 payable by her to the Defendant-Appellant-Sarasavi Publishers, Nugegoda.

(dailymirror.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

Entertainment

Indian artistes arrive for UNP May Day musical

Published

3 weeks ago

May 1, 2024

nipuni

Several singers from India arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (April 30) to perform at the musical extravaganza organized synchronously with the National May Day rally of the UNP.
The concert is to be held from 7.00pm at the P.D. Sirisena Grounds in Maligawaththa. Entrance will be free.

Vijay Balakrishnan, Ramya Nagercovil, Daniel Jayaram and Reshma Sundaram are among several other Indian musicians, such as Dharmar Satya Prakash and Nurani Varsha, also scheduled to visit the country today for the concert.

Music will be by the Line One band led by Shane Zing.

Entertainment

Actor Jagath Manuwarna accidently shot!

Published

3 weeks ago

April 29, 2024

nipuni

Actor Jagath Manuwarna has been accidently shot last night (April 28) during a shoot at a film set, reports say.

According to sources, he had suffered only a minor injury, but was immediately transported to Colombo for treatment.

He had been shooting an action scene of Chaminda Jayasuriya’s upcoming movie ‘Father’.

Entertainment

TikTok faces US ban as bill set to be signed by Biden

Published

4 weeks ago

April 24, 2024

editor

The US Senate has approved a controversial landmark bill that could see TikTok banned in America.

It gives TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the United States.

The bill will now be handed over to US President Joe Biden, who has said he will sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk.

ByteDance has told the BBC that it did not have an immediate response to the move. Previously the firm said it would oppose any attempt to force it to sell TikTok.

If the US is successful in forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok any deal would still need approval from Chinese officials but Beijing has vowed to oppose any such move. Analysts say the process could take years.

The measure was passed as part of a package of four bills which also included military aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other US partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

It had widespread support from lawmakers, with 79 Senators voting for it and 18 against.

“For years we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously short-sighted,” said Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee.

“A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America,” he added.

Fears that data about millions of Americans could land in China’s hands have driven Congressional efforts to split TikTok from the Beijing-based company.

Last week, the social media company said the bill would “trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy, annually.”

TikTok has said ByteDance “is not an agent of China or any other country”. And ByteDance insists it is not a Chinese firm, pointing to the global investment firms that own 60% of it.

Its chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, said last month the company will continue to do all it can including exercising its “legal rights” to protect the platform.

Mr Shou was grilled by Congress twice in less than a year, and downplayed the app’s connection – and his personal links – to Chinese authorities.

The social media platform made efforts to rally support against the potential ban, including a major lobbying campaign.

It also encouraged TikTok users and creators to express their opposition to the bill.

University of Richmond law professor, Carl Tobias told the BBC that a prolonged legal battle is likely to follow and that “could take about two years”.

He also said if a buyer for ByteDance’s stake is not found within the nine-month period, it could delay any action against TikTok in the US further.

(BBC News)