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Legal wrangling across continents over intellectual property, the revolution in telecommunications and hi-tech gadgetry conspired on Tuesday the 8th April 2003 to shrink the distance between Beverly Hills and the City of Palaces. A legal history is made here in our city on 08-04-2003. For the first time, in India, in keeping with the modern hi-tech in every field of human activity, our city court began hearing a case adopting what is known as 'tele-hearing". "The miracle" is that the respondent in the case is in Los Angeles, USA, while the petitioner is here in Mysore. The vast distance between two countries is bridged through tele media to facilitate conducting of the trial, thus avoiding long distance travel and huge expense for both the contending litigants. No wonder, an unprecedented crowd had gathered at the Court premises. 
Court scene and in
bottom right corner (in box) is District Judge
G.V.Hegde
In the image, the man wearing white shirt and standing
is Mr.Veda Nayak, the complainant
The Indian judiciary went hi-tech today with the country's first ever, tele-hearing over a Hollywood dispute beginning at a Court in city. An NRI from Mysore, Mr. Veda Nayak, who owns NRI Film Producers Company at Los Angeles, cross-examined the leading Holly wood producer Mr. Dean Devlin, who produced Independence Day for the famous 20th Century Fox. The tele hearing is being conducted through Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) installed by the BSNL at the District and Sessions Court here. The Lakshmipuram Telephone Exchange has linked Mysore with Los Angeles. The judge Mr. G. V. Hegde is hearing the case. Mr. Dean Devlin, sitting in a court at Los Angeles (at 11.20 p. m. in US and 9.20 am in India when the hearing began) is replying to the questions of Mr. Nayak, who is accusing the Hollywood producer of stealing his script for the Hollywood block buster "Independence Day". The images of Mr. Devlin and his lady Attorney are seen on the big screen installed just opposite the seat of the judge. As he entered the court hall this morning, the judge Mr. Hegde enquired whether all arrangements were made. The proceedings began with Mr. Xerexes Ranina, an advocate from Mumbai, who appeared in Mysore court, administering the oath to his client Mr. Devlin, who repeated the oath as " I swear in the presence of Almighty God that the evidence I shall give touching the matter and the court shall be the truth and nothing but the truth". Mr. Veda Nayak claims that he registered the copyright of his novel "Extra-Terrestrial Mission (ETM)" in 1986 and the film "Independence Day" was released in 1997. Mr. Nayak filed the copyright case in 1998 against the producer Mr. Devlin, alleging that the "Independence Day" was based on his story ETM allegedly stolen by one of his (Nayak) company's former employee.  Mr. Nayak began the cross-examination asking Mr. Devlin what was his educational qualification.
Mr. Devlin replied. "A graduate."
Mr. Nayak: Have you taken any course in script writing?
Mr. Devlin: No.
Mr. Nayak: Have you written any novel?
Mr. Devlin: Yes. It is Star Gate.
Mr. Nayak: Is it your script or based on others' script?
Mr. Devlin: It is my Script, co-authored by Mr. Rolland Emiritch.
Mr. Nayak: Was the Star Gate your first film script?
Mr. Devlin: No, Photo Opportunity was my first film script. The cross-examination ended at 12.10 p.m. Mr. Veda Nayak will cross-examine Mr. Rolland Emiritch tomorrow and another script writer Mr. Richard Gazilli on April 10.
The
Court Hall was packed with the advocates and members of
the public as well as media persons, who wanted to witness
the unique proceedings.
April
09, 2003:
The tele-trial of the case over the Hollywood film Independence
Day continued today with the petitioner Mr. Veda Nayak cross-examining
Mr. Roland Emiritch, co-director and co-writer of the script
of the 20th Century Fox movie.
The
examination, which commenced at 9 a. m. continued up to
11. 45 a. m.
Mr.
Veda Nayak quizzed Mr. Emiritch as to whether he understood
that the basic story is about the independence of the planet,
to which Mr. Emiritch replied "Yes". When Mr. Nayak queried
whether Mr. Emiritch had read the book "Extra - Terrestrial
Mission" (ETM), Mr. Emiritch replied that he had read only
a few pages.
After
the court hearing, District Judge Mr. G. V. Hegde spoke
to our correspondent. He said that the amendment made in
2002 has enabled this tele-trial and this will help both
the Court and the litigants in saving time and money. He
hoped that this would become popular in due course.
The
court was packed to capacity. Fortunately, the proceedings
went uninterrupted, as there was no power failure or technical
changes.
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