Madras High Court Orders Blocking Of More Than 13000 Websites To Prevent Piracy Of Vikram Vedha

The Madras High Court has ordered the blocking of over 13000 websites to prevent piracy of Vikram Vedha, a movie released yesterday. The interim injunction has been passed in a suit filed by Reliance Entertainment Studio Pvt Ltd.

Two separate orders have been passed by the Bench of Justice M. Sundar. The Bench restrained the respondents from infringing Copyright in the movie to prevent transmission, communication, display and exhibition of the movie and ordered that "for this purpose, if blocking of websites/web pages set out in Schedule-A to judge's summons becomes necessary, the same shall be done by all concerned". 

The Court has also ordered restraining the respondents from recording, reproducing or allowing camcording or allowing others to transmit, communicate or make available or distributing or duplicating or displaying or releasing or showing or uploading or downloading or exhibiting or playing and/or in any manner whatsoever from communicating the movie without a proper license, including through CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, VCD, Cable TV, Direct to home services, internet services, multimedia messaging services, pen drives, hard drives, tapes, DAS, Satellite, Conditional Access Systems.

The injunction was granted ex-parte since the Court found that ordering notice will entail delay and defeat the object of granting an interim order.

The Court found that if the interim order is not granted, it can result in the piracy being completed in all aspects of the matter and it will lead to an irreversible situation causing irreparable legal injury incapable of compensation.

The interim injunction has been granted for a period of 6 weeks, on the interim applications in the copyright infringement suit that were moved through PK Law Firm on the date of the release of the movie.  

The Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan starrer was released in the theatres on Friday and per Mr. Pradeep Jaiswal, VP Finance of Reliance Entertainment Studios, the blocking of websites set out in Schedule-A to judge's summons will entail blocking of more than 13000 websites.

The order is also against unidentified websites that may be found to be indulging in piracy of this film.

Click here to read/download Orders