Archie Comics Comes to Settlement with Bollywood Movie Makers
Hindustan Times is reporting that Archie Comics have reached an out-of-court settlement with the makers of the Bollywood Movie Boyss to Boyys Hain, whom they had previously threatened with a law suit. Archie Comics filed the suit back in January, and threatened that the film team would have to pay them R7-8 crore ($1.5-1.7 Million) if production continued.
The comic publisher accused the film makers of plagiarism, because they feel that all characters were inspired by those featured in Archie Comics publications, and that they had only changed Riverdale to Delhi University.
Vikramaditya Narayan, marketing director of the film, says that, “The reason we got into trouble in the first place is because some crew members made statements that said that the film is similar to Archie. The comic’s New York office caught the stories in the press and approached us saying they would take legal action.”
Back in January, producer Chaitannyaswami stated that, “Our film is about youngsters and their colourful life. We never made any statement, which suggested that the film is inspired from Archie Comics. One of my actors may have said in an interview that the film has a feel similar to Archie, but never that the film is based on it.”
The issue has now been settled, and it appears Archie Comics may be making some appearances in the film, “During promotions in colleges and educational institutions, we will give credit to Archie. The modalities for the tie-up are being right now worked up,” says Narayan.
However, Narayan still claims that the law suit was unfounded, saying that, “Boyss To Boyss Hain is set in Delhi, not Riverdale. The characters are from places like Bihar, UP and South India, and they are not like Veronica and Betty. It’s just that while reading the story, our writer mentioned the name of Archie to the cast. And the cast in turn spread the word.”
Hmm, an Indian Archie, now that I’d watch!
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- Archie Comics to Return to Classic Logo Treatment
- Archie Comics Introduces Justin Beaver
- Archie Comics Launches Second Magazine Title, Veronica and Betty
