The Delhi High Court recently issued a dynamic injunction in support of Viacom18, the owner of Jio Cinema. This injunction restrains unauthorized websites from illegally streaming matches featuring the Indian cricket team, as Viacom18 holds the broadcasting and media rights for these matches.

Justice C Hari Shankar has issued an order to block eight specific websites identified by Viacom in its lawsuit. Additionally, the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) and the Central government have been instructed to block any other websites that Viacom may identify as offending in the future.

The court issued this order in response to a petition filed by Viacom 18. Viacom 18 stated that they had entered into an agreement on September 12, 2023, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This agreement granted Viacom 18 exclusive global media rights to stream and transmit BCCI-conducted events through television and digital media. As a result of this agreement, Viacom 18 sought legal protection to prevent unauthorized streaming and transmission of these events on rogue websites.

It was mentioned that Viacom holds the broadcasting and media rights for all the bilateral matches of the Indian cricket team that are scheduled to take place in India until March 2028.

The lawsuit identified eight rogue websites that were involved in streaming and broadcasting the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023, as well as other cricket matches. The court was informed that this kind of transmission constituted a violation of the exclusive copyright held by Viacom.

Justice Hari Shankar, after reviewing the case, noted that it is commonly known that these rogue websites often emerge just before such events take place, and they begin streaming and broadcasting content for which copyright is held by others.

The Court has urged the legislature to create a policy or framework that can help prevent such disputes from having to be resolved in the courts.

The order issued by the Court expressed concern over the increasing number of suits related to websites engaged in copyright infringement and stated, "This Court finds itself inundated with suits seeking protection against such websites, which keep cropping up every now and then. It may be useful for the Legislature to formulate some kind of a policy by which such disputes can avoid taking up the time of the courts."

Justice Hari Shankar has determined that the plaintiff (Viacom) has established a prima facie case that warrants the granting of interim relief. As a result, the Court has issued injunction orders against the rogue websites. Additionally, the Court has instructed the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) to suspend the domain names associated with these websites and disclose their complete details.

The Court has also issued an order directing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to rogue websites.

The order has specified that Defendants 24 and 25, which refer to the Department of Technology and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, should issue a notification. This notification should instruct internet and telecom service providers registered under these government entities to block access to the websites identified by the plaintiff (Viacom) and listed in the documents attached to the lawsuit.

Case: Viacom 18 Media Private Limited v Live.smartcric.com & Ors, CS(COMM) 659/2023 & I.A. 18466/2023, I.A. 18467/2023, I.A. 18468/2023, I.A. 18469/2023