MUMBAI, May 15 -- In a setback for Goldmines Telefilms Pvt Ltd, the film distribution and production company has failed to secure interim relief in its high-stakes copyright dispute with Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd. At the centre of the suit are the broadcast rights of 18 popular feature films dubbed by Goldmines, which claims that Viacom18 has violated their agreement by making edits, deletions and cuts to these films. However, in a recent order, the court observed that Viacom18 had undisputed rights under the agreement to make changes to the films in question. Goldmines and Viacom18 had entered into a film assignment agreement in 2016, which licensed various rights of 18 films, including the satellite broadcast rights and non-inclusive, on-demand rights in 250 cinematograph films, for Rs.162 crore. Via another agreement in 2015, Goldmines licensed the rights of the film 'Power Unlimited' for Rs.2 crore. The film company, known for acquiring and dubbing high-profile South Indian films and dubbing them in Hindi, alleges that Viacom18 had breached certain clauses of the agreements. It therefore sent it two notices in July 2024. According to Goldmines, Viacom18 had breached the agreements by making "indiscriminate cuts and deletions". The deletions and cuts were for broadcasting convenience, which resulted in "multiple versions" being created of the same film. This, Goldmine claimed, could never be a part of the internal standard practices and policies of the company. Since Viacom18 allegedly continued to breach the agreement, Goldmines terminated the first film agreement in August 2024. The company also sent a demand draft towards a pro-rata refund of the licence fee for the unexpired licence term in respect of the 18 films included in the suit. It then moved the Bombay High Court, seeking a declaration that the termination of the licences in respect of these 18 films was valid, legal and binding on the defendants. It also sought an injunction, restraining Viacom18 from being the assignees/licencees in respect of the rights of these films. Representing Goldmines, senior counsel Virendra Tulzapurkar submitted to the court that the power to delete, edit or cut any portion of the films could be exercised only in the specific conditions enumerated in the clause of the agreements. "If Viacom is permitted to continue to exploit the films despite the termination notices issued, it would result in irreparable loss and injury to the plaintiff," he added. Countering these claims, senior counsel Ashish Kamat, representing Viacom18, submitted that only a part of the agreement had been terminated, which cannot be permitted. He also said it was standard industry policy to broadcast films with such deletions, edits and cuts, to adjust timelines in order to incorporate advertising etc. He pointed out that such deletions, edits and cuts had been undertaken for the entire set of 250 films, yet only high revenue-generating films were included in the suit. This established the intent of malice, he claimed. While denying an interim injunction, the single-judge bench of Justice Manish Pitale said the agreement granted unrestricted power to Viacom18 to act on it. It added that Goldmines had failed to establish its case against Viacom18, to stop it from broadcasting the films....