Bombay HC orders YouTuber ‘Flying Beast’ to remove videos in Castrol copyright case

New Delhi: The Bombay High Court has ordered Gaurav Taneja, the YouTube vlogger behind the channel ‘Flying Beast,’ to remove two videos from his channel over copyright infringement of Castrol, an Indian conglomerate manufacturing automobile lubricants. 

According to LiveLaw, Bombay’s apex court has issued a temporary injunction against Taneja and ordered the removal of videos featuring him experiencing zero-gravity flight in the United States. 

Castrol, the auto lubricant manufacturer, launched a campaign called ‘Castronomy,’ in April 2024. Under the campaign, it commissioned vloggers to capture zero-gravity flight experience. 

Through a marketing agency, the company engaged Gaurav Taneja to participate in the campaign.  

According to the arrangement, the company agreed to bear the cost of travel to the US, the accommodation, and the participation in the zero-gravity flight experience for Taneja. However, on his channel, Taneja did not give credit to Castol in the videos. 

Over the course of his visit, Taneja recorded videos and took pictures of the flight experience. This raw data was produced under Castrol’s creative direction and campaign guidelines. Eric Decker, an American YouTube vlogger, also collaborated with Taneja and assisted Taneja in the content creation.

Following this, Taneja sent a copy of the collab content for review through a private YouTube link, where he spoke about the Castronomy campaign and the products that Castrol offers, according to campaign guidelines. 

The company has alleged that Taneja, after this, demanded a payment of Rs 30 lakhs to deliver the raw data and the collab content, which he has not done till date. 

Castrol stated that Gaurav Taneja, a.k.a. Flying Beast, unauthorisedly used substantial parts of the raw data and uploaded impugned content on his channel. 

He uploaded one video on October 29, titled “Ready to go in Zero Gravity with @airrack” and then another on November 1, titled “Flying in ZERO GRAVITY.” 

None of these videos gave credit to Castrol or their Castronomy campaign. 

Justice R.I Chagla noted that Castrol appears to be the producer of raw data and collab content and the first owner of the copyright. “In view thereof, by exploiting the Raw Data without the authorisation of the Plaintiff (Castrol), the Defendant No. 1 (Gaurav Taneja) in my prima facie view has infringed the Plaintiff's copyright subsisting in the Raw Data,” the court remarked as reported by LiveLaw 

Castrol also alleged that multiple requests were made to Taneja to remove the impugned content. 

Further, the agency through which Castrol engaged Taneja, offered him Rs 5 lakhs to take down the content.