Promotional trailer only meant to encourage viewer to purchase movie ticket: SC

April 22, 2024 20:45

A song, dialogue, or a short visual in a trailer are used to create a buzz about the release of a film and do not represent information about its contents, the Supreme Court said on Monday while setting aside an order of the top consumer disputes body which directed Yash Raj Films to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation besides litigation costs to a consumer aggrieved by exclusion of a song in Bollywood movie Fan.

Allowing the appeal filed by the film production firm, a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Aravind Kumar said there was no "deficiency" in service and the complainant wrongly assumed that a promotional trailer is an offer or a promise.

The top court's verdict came while hearing an appeal filed by Yash Raj Films Pvt Ltd challenging an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which upheld the State Commission's 2017 direction to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to Afreen Fatima Zaidi and a litigation cost of Rs 5,000.

"A song, dialogue, or a short visual in a promotional trailer may be seen in the context of the multifarious uses of advertisements. These could be used to popularise or to create a buzz about the release of the film, rather than to purely represent information about the contents of the film..."

"A promotional trailer is unilateral. It is only meant to encourage a viewer to purchase the ticket to the movie, which is an independent transaction and contract from the promotional trailer. A promotional trailer by itself is not an offer and neither intends to nor can create a contractual relationship," the bench said.

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