The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has set five days from Oct 19 to hear novelist Elias Idris’ suit against film makers Syamsul Yusof, his father Yusof Haslam and their film production company, Skop Production Sdn Bhd.

Judge Azizah Nawawi set the date in chambers today.

Elias, 63, filed the suit on Nov 24 last year, alleging that the defendants had plagiarised the contents of his novel, ‘Aku Bohsia’, in their film, ‘Bohsia Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam’, which was produced in 2009.

In his statement of claims, the plaintiff, who is represented by lawyer M Kumar, claimed that he wrote the novel in 1995 using the pseudonym, Anne Natasha Nita, and had obtained a copyright on it.

He alleged that many similarities in terms of theme, plot, characters and message could be found between the novel and the film.

He also claimed that a letter he had written to the defendants about the copyright infringement, and requesting for compensation, had gone unheeded.

Elias is seeking a declaration that the defendants had infringed on his copyright ownership as the original writer; an injunction to prevent the defendants from screening the film; and an order on costs.

Meanwhile, the defendants in their statement of defence and counter claim filed on Jan 5, denied the similarities alleged by Elias and claimed that they had never read, possessed or heard about the novel prior to and after completing the film.

They also claimed that they got hold of the novel for the first time on Dec 1 last year and after reading through it, found glaring differences between it and the film, in term of theme, plot and other aspects.

In their counter-claim, they alleged that the plaintiff had slandered them in his blog on Nov 16 last year and that the blog posting had ridiculed and tarnished their image and reputation in the film industry.

The defendants are seeking an injunction to prevent the plaintiff or his agents from giving any oral or written statement to the media on the alleged plagiarism or similarities between the novel and the film.

They are also seeking exemplary and general damages, interest and costs.

 

- Bernama