Tilvin wins copyright case against Wimal

Colombo, July 9 (Daily Mirror) - The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by former Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa, affirming that he infringed the copyright of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva by reproducing the book titled 'Neththa Venuwata Aththa'.

However, the Supreme Court varied the permanent injunction issued by the High Court, ruling that it should apply only to the copyrighted documents in dispute and not to the entirety of Weerawansa’s publication.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Dr. Sobhitha Rajakaruna, Janak De Silva and Sampath Wijeratne delivered the judgment, with Justice Rajakaruna writing the unanimous decision.

The dispute related to two unpublished documents prepared by Tilvin Silva for discussions before the Central Committee of the JVP in the run-up to the 2005 Presidential election. Tilvin Silva maintained that the documents contained his original political analyses and recommendations and alleged that Weerawansa reproduced them in full in his book titled 'Neththa Venuwata Aththa' without obtaining his consent.  

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s finding that the documents constituted original literary works protected under the Intellectual Property Act. The Court held that copyright protects the original expression of ideas rather than the ideas themselves and found that Silva’s writings reflected sufficient intellectual effort, judgment and analytical skill to qualify for copyright protection.