‘Stealing my feeds’: ANI sues PTI for plagiarism, copyright breach, seeks Rs 2 crore

Delhi High Court has summoned news agency Press Trust of India in a copyright infringement and plagiarism case filed by Asian News International in connection with the videos of a Delhi-Darbhanga Spicejet flight’s air conditioner breakdown, Bar and Bench reported.  

The ANI has sought damages of Rs 2 crore, alleging that the PTI “copied” its videos of passengers suffering in the flight on the runway for nearly an hour on June 19, as the air conditioning stopped working amid a heatwave. The news agency also demanded a permanent injunction restraining PTI from copying its original work. 

The court asked PTI to file its response, while the latter said that it will take down the videos within 24 hours. The case will next be heard on August 9.

In its complaint, ANI alleged that its video journalist shot clips inside the flight that were published on its X account. And soon PTI also published identical videos. Its advocate Chander M Lall demanded that PTI must “take down and acknowledge that it is my [ANI’s] work. They must apologise. They must write to all the newspapers who published the report as PTI feed. PTI has been stealing my feeds.”

However, PTI advocate Rajshekhar Rao said that there was “no apology needed” and that the video was a third party content. He said that it is “a case of pot calling the kettle black”.

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