COLOMBO ; The Supreme Court on Thursday (9) upheld a previous Commercial High Court ruling directing former Minister Wimal Weerawansa to pay Rs. 1 million in compensation to Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva for violating intellectual property rights through the publication of the book “Naththa Wenuwata Eththa”.
The Supreme Court also issued an injunction preventing Weerawansa from printing, distributing, selling, or engaging in any activity that would infringe intellectual property rights relating to documents associated with the JVP that had been included in the publication.
The legal dispute originated from a case filed by Tilvin Silva before the Colombo Commercial High Court alleging that his intellectual property rights had been violated through the publication of the book, which was released under Weerawansa’s name.
During the proceedings before the Commercial High Court, Silva argued that the publication contained ideas, proposals and documents that he had presented to the executive committee of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna while serving within the party. He maintained that the inclusion of those materials in the book constituted a violation of his intellectual property rights.
Following lengthy proceedings, the Colombo Commercial High Court delivered its judgment on January 11, 2019, ruling that under the Intellectual Property Act, the legitimate ownership of the material contained in “Naththa Wenuwata Eththa” belonged not to Weerawansa but to Tilvin Silva.
The court subsequently ordered Weerawansa to pay Rs. 1 million in damages to Silva and issued related relief concerning the disputed material.
Challenging that decision, Weerawansa filed an appeal before the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the Commercial High Court’s ruling.
However, the Supreme Court has now affirmed the earlier judgment in its entirety. The ruling was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Sobitha Rajakaruna. News first
