In Humans of Bombay vs People of India case, HOB comes out a loser
The Delhi High Court recently issued a verdict in the case between Humans of Bombay (HOB) and People of India (POI), two popular storytelling platforms.
The court's decision centred around allegations of copyright infringement and the use of similar content between the two platforms.
What
- It all started when HOB filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against POI for copying their work, alleging that their rival had replicated their unique storytelling format and published identical content, including the use of images and videos without consent.
An eyebrow-raising move, especially considering Humans of New York’s existence predating both platforms. But the drama didn't stop there.
Tagline? inspiration? Plagiarism? Humans? Franchise? Rights? pic.twitter.com/nUXngJK1wD
— Rahul Nair (@MowglyNair) October 11, 2023
Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York (HONY), weighed in on the matter, expressing his disapproval of HOB's legal action.
- He accused them of copying his format, though he acknowledged the importance of their storytelling and the fact that they had monetised it more extensively than HONY had.
I've stayed quiet on the appropriation of my work because I think @HumansOfBombay 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. https://t.co/0jZM05YyTt
— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 23, 2023
The verdict
The court's verdict was delivered by Justice Pratibha M Singh.
The ruling
- HOB and POI were forbidden from photocopying each other's original commissioned pictures, written tales, and the distinct way they spun their stories.
- However, the court clarified that if folks willingly shared their stories with both platforms, it didn't constitute copyright foul play.
The essence of the court's script lay in the age-old copyright tussle – idea versus expression. While the idea might be the same, the court decreed that the expression must dance to a different tune for a valid copyright claim.
With both HOB and POI agreeing to these conditions, the curtain fell on the legal theatrics.
The counter
In an interesting twist to the case, POI countered HOB's allegations by claiming that HOB had itself copied content from Stanton’s original US-based platform, with Stanton publicly confirming the claim on Twitter.
- POI argued that the shared content wasn't necessarily a result of clandestine copying but rather because people generously shared their stories across various platforms.
- They argued that they weren't alone in their storytelling quest; there were other global counterparts like Humans of Amsterdam and Humans of Bihar.
However, HOB wasn't one to be outdone. They stuck to their guns, insisting they had a copyright claim on their unique storytelling process, methods, and expression.
They maintained that as joint owners of the photographs, they had the right to protect their content from copyright infringement, as long as their original compilation was not copied.
The battle online
The case attracted significant attention on social media, with both parties engaging in a public spat on various platforms, sparking discussions on the issues of intellectual property and originality in the digital age.
But the overarching sentiment towards the verdict of the case seems quite obvious...
Oh BTW guys Humans of Bombay lost the case. 💃 pic.twitter.com/howoY7d7hD
— ✨Disintegrating✨ (@whineandchill) October 12, 2023
HOB founder and CEO Karishma Mehta speaks out
Karishma Mehta, the founder and CEO of Humans of Bombay, addressed the controversy in an open letter.
Our story pic.twitter.com/vg04Re16rp
— Humans Of Bombay (@HumansOfBombay) October 11, 2023
She began by expressing her gratitude to HONY for inspiring her and the HOB platform, emphasising the power of storytelling
- She clarified that the lawsuit was not about inspiration but about "substantial imitation," pointing out explicit plagiarism, where content created by HOB was published on another creator's page.
- She also highlighted that legal action was pursued as a last resort after attempting to resolve the matter amicably.
Mehta thanked the Delhi High Court for vindicating their contentions and issuing a permanent injunction against POI and argued that the case set a precedent for the creator community to protect their unique expressions and foster the power of storytelling.
It seems like the Internet wasn't particularly pleased with Mehta's statement...
Humans of Bombay founder https://t.co/xsck85CK8k
— Emergency Yadav (@Mr__Milk__Man) October 5, 2023
People of India rejoices
Meanwhile, the People of India seems quite pleased with the court's verdict, claiming the "other platform" has only responded with a one-sided account of the ruling.
In the end, this courtroom saga showed that the digital storytelling world is not without its plot twists and the message is resoundingly clear: safeguarding creative content in the digital age is no piece of cake.