The Karnataka High Court has stayed all further investigations in a First Information Report (FIR) registered against Amazon Seller Services Private Limited. The FIR was lodged under the Copyright Act, 1957, over allegations of selling the book ‘Hell Hogu Karana’, authored by the late journalist Ravi Belagere, on its platform at a heavily discounted price.
A vacation bench of Justice K V Aravind issued notices to the respondents and stayed all proceedings in the FIR. The matter has been scheduled for its next hearing in the third week of June.
Background of the Case
The legal dispute stems from a criminal complaint lodged on February 4 at the Subramanyapura police station by Bhavana Belagere, the daughter of the late journalist and author Ravi Belagere. According to the complaint, the book ‘Hell Hogu Karana’ was written by Ravi Belagere and published by the complainant’s publishing house, ‘Bhavana Prakashana’.
First published in September 2003, the book reached its 31st printing in April 2005. The complainant asserts that ‘Bhavana Prakashana’ holds the entire copyright of the book, alongside the sole legal right to print, sell, and distribute it.
However, the complainant recently discovered that certain individuals and e-commerce companies—specifically Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho—were allegedly selling the book on their respective applications at Rs 149, significantly lower than its original retail price of Rs 350. The complainant argued that this “illegal act” resulted in direct financial losses for the publication and infringed upon the author’s proprietary rights, constituting a violation of the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Information Technology Act.
Arguments of the Parties
Appearing on behalf of Amazon Seller Services Private Limited, Senior Advocate Sandesh J Chouta argued that the company is protected under the statutory “safe harbour” provisions of Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
“Legal proceedings cannot be initiated against an intermediary, the company only provides a platform for sellers to display their products on the platform it does not decide the price at which it is sold and there are around 170 million products being available on Amazon,” Chouta submitted.
Chouta further stated that Amazon had neither published, listed, distributed, nor sold the book, and had no role whatsoever in the alleged infringing activities described in the complaint. He contended that the allegations do not disclose any act constituting copyright infringement under Sections 51 or 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
The senior counsel also pointed out that the prosecution had been initiated exclusively against online marketplaces, without identifying or prosecuting the actual third-party sellers who had listed or sold the book in question.
Furthermore, Chouta informed the court that immediately after receiving a notice from the police, Amazon acted upon an oral direction issued on May 7 to take down the book’s listing. The company also provided the probe agency with the necessary information and details regarding the third-party sellers who had listed the book on the platform.
Court’s Analysis and Decision
Following the submissions, the vacation bench took note of the compliance and the statutory protections argued by the petitioner. The court deemed it fit to halt the ongoing police investigation while the legal issues are examined.
In its interim order, Justice K V Aravind directed:
“Issue notice to the respondents. In the meanwhile, further proceedings in the FIR stayed till the next date of hearing. List the matter for hearing in the third week of June.”
