Delhi High Court Restrains Illegal Streaming Of Talk Show Series Titled 'Unstoppable' On OTT Platform 'Aha'

The Delhi High Court while dealing with a matter has recently restrained the illegal and unauthorised streaming and broadcast of a talk show series titled 'Unstoppable' airing on the plaintiff's OTT platform 'Aha'.

A Single Bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva ordered –

"…Plaintiff has been able to make out a strong prima facie in its favour for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, in the nature of a dynamic injunction. The balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and in case an ex-parte ad-interim dynamic injunction is not granted Plaintiff shall suffer irreparable loss and injury. Accordingly, till the next date of hearing an ex parte ad-interim injunction is granted thereby restraining the Defendants… from in any manner hosting, streaming, broadcasting, re-transmitting, exhibiting, making available for viewing and downloading, providing access to and communicating to the public, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, updating and/or sharing (including to its subscribers and users) on their websites, through the internet, or in any manner or platform whatsoever, the Plaintiff's talk show series titled 'Unstoppable' season 1 and season 2 or any other future seasons thereof, and/or any part thereof and/or any content related thereto and/or all future works derived from the said web-series (including any future formats made for exhibiting on the Metaverse), amounting to an infringement of the Plaintiff's Copyright and/or Broadcast Reproduction Rights in the said talk-show series."

Advocate Pravin Anand appeared on behalf of the plaintiff while no one appeared for the defendants.

In this case, Arha Media and Broadcasting Pvt. Ltd. i.e., the plaintiff sought a restraint on illegal and unauthorized dissemination of the plaintiff's alleged original content in its talk show series 'Unstoppable' airing on the plaintiff's OTT platform. The plaintiff is engaged in the business of procurement, development, distribution, and dissemination, broadcasting/re-broadcasting of entertainment programs, such as cinematographic feature films, serials, talent hunts, reality shows, talk show series, documentaries, etc. using existing and emerging technologies through its online video/ OTT platform named 'Aha' which operates in the Telugu and Tamil Languages, in domestic and international markets. The plaintiff claimed to be the sole proprietor of the said series' Intellectual Property Rights.

The suit was, therefore, filed by the plaintiff against the defendants and other parties who were claimed to be rogue websites involved in infringing the plaintiff's rights by unauthorizedly and illegally disseminating the original content in its talk-show series 'Unstoppable' over their platforms.

The High Court after hearing the contentions made by the counsel for the plaintiff said, "Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are also directed to direct the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) registered with them, to pull down all infringing links as provided by the Plaintiff at pages 599 to 605 of the List of Documents dated 27th December, 2022."

The Court further directed the DoT and MeitY to direct the various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecom Service providers registered with them to immediately block access to the various rogue websites, as identified by the plaintiff.

The Court also stated, "DoT and the MeitY are directed to direct the various Internet Service Providers and Telecom Service providers registered with them, to provide to the Plaintiff, if so requested by the Plaintiff, with the complete details of the rogue websites, including but not limited to Name, Address, Email Address, Phone Number, IP Address, etc., so as to enable the Plaintiff to implead the said websites as Defendants."

Accordingly, the Court restrained the defendant.

Cause Title – Arha Media and Broadcasting Private Limited v. www.vcinema.com & Ors.

Click here to read/download the Order