Mannu Bhandari v Kala Vikas Pictures Pvt. Ltd.

• Mannu Bhandari wrote "Aap Ka Bunty" (1971), a critically acclaimed Hindi novel
• She assigned film rights to Kala Vikas Pictures
• The screenplay substantially altered plot, characters, and narrative perspective
• Bhandari objected to distortions as harmful to her literary reputation
• She sought injunction against release in modified form

1. Whether an author who assigned film rights retains moral rights to object to distortions
2. Scope of the right of integrity in Indian copyright law

• Assignment of economic rights does not extinguish moral rights
• Author retains the right to object to modifications prejudicial to honour or reputation
• The modifications were substantial enough to potentially prejudice the author
• Court balanced producer's investment against author's moral rights

Moral rights are personal, inalienable, and survive assignment. The right of integrity protects against distortion prejudicial to reputation. Film producers have creative latitude but not unlimited licence to deface the underlying work.