Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd vs Pituwana Liyanage Shantha Chandraguptha Amarasinghe – SC CHC APP NO. 30/2003-2012

In the case between Pituwana Liyanage Shantha Chandraguptha Amarasinghe (photographer, Plaintiff-Respondent) and Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (publisher, Defendant-Appellant), the court addressed the alleged violation of economic and moral rights over photographs taken during the 1983 communal riots. The main legal consideration centered on whether the publication of these photographs by the Appellant constituted copyright infringement under Sections 10, 11, 13(b), and 17(3) of the repealed Code of Intellectual Property, and whether any statutory exemptions, such as the “newsworthiness” exception or employer ownership presumption, applied. Findings established that the Appellant published the images without authorization or proper citation, and could not rely on the cited exemptions