Archie Comic Publications Inc, the New York based owner of the popular comic series, has threatened to sue the makers of the yet-to-be-released Hindi film, Boys Toh Boys Hain.

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“They are claiming damages of Rs7 to Rs8 crore,” said the film’s marketing director Vikramaditya Narayan.

In a legal notice sent to producers Anup Jalota and Chaitanyaswami, the publication house has pointed out that they had read media reports about the characters in the film being inspired by Archie and his friends — Jughead, Reggie, Betty, and Veronica.

“It has recently been brought to the attention of our clients that you are making bold promotional statements in the media that the plot of your film is based upon and inspired by Archie Comic,” the notice added.

Legal experts said unauthorised promotion through visuals or verbal representations of a trademark character or its likeness amounts to copyright infringement.

Though the makers insist that Boys Toh... is based on an original script, the film’s cast and crew has been saying in media interviews that the story is inspired by the famous comic characters and their funny take on life.

“The movie is about four friends in college who go through life looking for love,” Chaitanyaswami said. “We never made any statements suggesting that the film is inspired from Archie Comic. One of us may have said it in a media interview that it has a similar look and feel to Archie, but never that the film is based on it.”

The makers will reply to the notice clarifying their stand. “We are even willing to show them the unedited version of the movie if they ask for it,” Narayan said. The movie is in the post-production stages and will be released in cinemas in April.

Archie Comic’s lawyer Jyotideep Kaur said that if the film’s protagonists have any resemblance to the characters from the comic, the makers should pay her clients licencing fees for the intellectual rights. “It is impermissible to proceed with the unauthorised use of our clients’ intellectual and copyrighted properties,” she said.

Representatives from Archie Comic will be in Mumbai later this month to see the film. Narayan, however, said that the publication house was overreacting. “There are restaurants  named after characters from Archie Comic. Why is the publication house not going after them for licencing fees or trademark infringement?”