Ekta Kapoor's Lock Upp in trouble, court issues stay order on the show

Ekta Kapoor's Lock Upp has been accused of plagiarism. The City Civil Court of Hyderabad has issued a stay order on the show.

The City Civil Court of Hyderabad has issued an ad-interim injunction on releasing the upcoming reality show Lock Upp. The order is awarded after a hearing and checking the documents of the petitioner, Sanober Baig who happens to be the sole right holder of the story and the script of the concept The Jail. The court also took on record the video clip of the trailer of Lock Upp and concluded that it appears similar. Since the show was to be released on February 27, 2022; the court has passed an order with an urgent notice prohibiting the exhibition of the show on any electronic media, social media, and other mediums.

The concept is owned by Pride Media through its proprietor, Sanober Baig, and was written by Shaantanu Ray and Sheershak Anand and registered under the copyright act on March 7 2018. It was registered with the Film Writers Association. In his petition, the plaintiff, Mr Baig, has described how the concept was developed also explained the concept in detail, giving the details of the money invested by him at various stages of concept development.

Speaking on the situation, Sanober said, "When I saw the promo of the said show I was in shock. I have been in touch with Abhishek Rege from Endemol Shine for a long time and had several meetings about the subject in Hyderabad. He had promised that once the market gets better, we will get going. The show is not only similar to our concept but an absolute copy of the same. I could not believe that somebody could plagiarise the concept to such an extent. We have prayed to the court for infringement of the copyright and have got a stay order."

If the infringement is proved, the defendant production houses will be liable for consequences under sections 51 and 52 of the Copyright Act. "I connected with the respective companies and requested them not to go ahead with the concept. But they turned a deaf ear and challenged that they have every right to stream as per the schedule. I had no option but to seek redressal from the judiciary. The notice has been served to all the parties involved and we have the acknowledgment of the same. If the show gets aired it’ll be a contempt of the court. I have full faith in the judiciary and am sure that justice will be served," said Baig.

Sanober Baig organised a press meeting on February 25. He said that his game show concept, Jail, is being plagiarised by Ekta Kapoor (Alt Balaji), MX Player, and Endemol Shine.

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