KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court threw out novelist Elias Idris' suit against filmmaker Datuk Yusof Haslam and two others over allegation of plagiarism of novel "Aku Bohsia".
Judge Datin Azizah Nawawi ruled that defendants Yusof; his son, actor-director Mohd Syamsul; and film company Skop Production Sdn Bhd, had not infringed on the copyright of Idris' 1995 novel when they released the movie "Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam" in 2009.
Azizah said general ideas like "bohsia"(promiscous young girl) and "mat rempit" (young male motorcycle racers) contained in Elias' novel are not matters that can be copyrighted and exclusive to the book.
Azizah also allowed the three defendants' counterclaim against Elias over the plagiarism allegation, and ordered him to pay them RM100,000 in damages and RM40,000 in legal cost.
Later outside court, a hat-clad Yusof - standing besides black sunglasses-wearing Syamsul - expressed happiness that the verdict had vindicated the father-son and their film company of the allegation.
On Nov 24, 2014, Elias, 64, filed the plagiarism suit against Yusof, 62, whose real name is Md Yusof Md Aslam; Syamsul, 32; and Skop Production.
Yusof, Syamsul and Skop Production later filed a countersuit against Elias over his two online articles, uploaded on Nov 7 and 16, 2014, that claimed the three defendants plagiarised the novel.
Elias, who published the novel under the pseudonym Anne Natasha Nita, claimed there were many similarities between his book and the three defendants' movie in terms of plot, characters and message.
Elias had sought to stop the distribution of the RM1.5million film, damages and financial returns enjoyed by the defendants because of the alleged infringement, among others.
Through their defence filed on Jan 5 last year, Yusof, Syamsul, and Skop Production argued they had never read or even heard of the novel and denied basing the film on it.
Yusof is known for his Gerak Khas drama,which has gone into its 16th year, with the new season slated to begin on March 4.
Syamsul, who also took part in directing the new season of Gerak Khas, also has an acting role in the long-running series.