What Humans of Bombay accused People of India of? All you need to know
In the court documents, Humans of Bombay has attached images which show content by HoB and PoI were exactly the same. HoB filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent PoI from using its content.
Humans of Bombay has sued People of India for copyright infringement, following which Delhi High Court issued a notice to the latter. Much backlashing, hullabaloo, and online trolling ensued against Karishma Mehta-owned Humans of Bombay, especially after Humans of New York owner Brandon Stanton posted a quoted the Delhi High Court news.
Let's take a look.
While replying to Brandon, Humans of Bombay had attached the court documents for suing People of India. A look through the court documents show that People of India had plagiarized content that had been published by Humans of Bombay before.
Karishma Mehta owned company sued People of India for copyright infringement. In the court documents, Humans of Bombay has attached images which show content by HoB and PoI were exactly the same. HoB filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent PoI from using its content.
The plea stated: "…the similarities between the infringing content and the plaintiff's content not just constitutes infringement of copyright owned by the plaintiff but also to passing off and unfair competition, as the defendants have evidently, knowingly and deliberately published content that is identical or substantially similar to the popular content comprised of plaintiffs works in an attempt to ride on goodwill that has been painstakingly built by the plaintiff."
Regarding HoB's copyright infringement suit, the court issued a summons to PoI. In the order shared by HoB, the court observed, "Prima facie, there is substantial imitation, and in fact, in some cases, the photographs/images are identical or imitative."
"Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here!
HoB said, "The suit is related to the IP in our posts and not about storytelling. We tried to address the issue amicably before approaching the court, as we believe in protecting our team's hard work."
Humans of Bombay accused Instagram handle People of India of "completely replicating its business model and even the stories themselves". They alleged that the PoI approached the same individuals featured on their website to create an "imitative platform".
This accusation received severe online trolling. Netizens were quick to point out that the business model that Humans of Bombay was talking about was started by Brandon Stanton in Humans of New York back in 2010.
In a post on X, Stanton said that he stayed quiet on the "appropriation of my work because I think Humans of Bombay shares important stories, even if they've monetized far past anything I'd feel comfortable doing on HONY".
"But you can't be suing people for what I've forgiven you for," he concluded.
Humans of Bombay replied to Stanton saying, "It's shocking that a cryptic assault on our efforts to protect our intellectual property is made in this manner, especially without understanding the background of the case.” It added, “Perhaps, before jumping the gun on this matter, you ought to acquaint yourself with the information about the case and also about what HOB is trying to achieve.”
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:25 Sep 2023, 07:58 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High