Book review: Pirates of Bollywood: A Tale of Piracy and Conspiracy

Kaylan Kankanala's  first novel Road Humps and Sidewalks was well-received (see a review by this Leo here). He has published another IP novel, starring the protagonists from his first novel, Arjun Mamidi, a visually impaired lawyer and his sidekick Jose Fenil. His over-protective wife Shreya and loyal dog Neo also feature in the background. Arjun is drawn into the complex and dangerous world of copyright infringement involving Bollywood stars, corrupt policemen, the mumbai mafia, a bogus copyleft foundation and the hapless IIahi, a street-hawker of infringing music and films. Arjun eludes a bumbling assassin several times and catches the baddies in the end, with the help of the stunning Assistant Police Commissioner Helen Joseph and the Commissioner of Police  Shivaji Savarkar, for whom Helen seems to have more than collegial regard.


The novel contains detailed court room scenes where Arjun and his opponent argue over whether or not SHARE, a peer-to-peer file sharing network, should be held liable for secondary copyright infringement. The arguments are reminiscent of those made in real cases and so play an important educational role.  IP Scholars and practitioners will enjoy evaluating these arguments and identifying the cases they are drawn from. However, the court does not get to pronounce on SHARE's liability as the matter is withdrawn and resolved in the real world through murder and mayhem.

Compared to Road Humps and Sidewalks, this novel is considerably longer (450pp) and has a much more detailed plot. Like Road Humps and Sidewalks, it is a compelling mix of law, love and crime - a rewarding weekend read.


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see here for another review of the novel on IPKat.
see here for ordering information