UTV wins 'Thank You' title row

Mumbai, April 6 (IANS) The makers of Akshay Kumar starrer 'Thank You' have won a legal battle against producer-director Pooja Bhatt's Fisheye Networks Ltd over the title of the film after Mumbai High Court Wednesday ruled that there is no copyright on a mere title.

Pooja had filed a case against UTV and co-producer Hari Om Productions, claiming that she had registered the title with Association of Motion Picture and TV Programming Producers (AMPTPP).

The producers of 'Thank You', which is releasing Friday, strongly feel the issue was a result of miscommunication between film associations Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPAA) and Film Makers Combine (FMC).

UTV had registered the title with IMPAA in 2008. When a dispute arose, it was firmly settled by the FMC, confirming that the title is with UTV. But despite that Pooja filed a case in the high court.

'We are glad that the court has upheld our contention that we have gone through the proper channels to obtain the title 'Thank You' and that the title legitimately belongs to us. We do believe that it is about time that the industry has a single window for title clearances in order to avoid such incidents in future,' said Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, Motion Pictures UTV.

The film is a romantic comedy and stars Akshay Kumar, Irrfan Khan, Suniel Shetty, Sonam Kapoor, Celina Jaitley and Rimi Sen. It has been directed by Anees Bazmee.