Delhi High Court: In a petition filed by Star India Private Limited (plaintiff) seeking a dynamic+ injunction to protect their exclusive broadcast rights for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 as well as restraining illegal and unauthorized dissemination and broadcast of the matches or parts thereof, a Single Judge Bench of Sanjeev Narula, J. granted a dynamic+ injunction and restrained the rogue websites from communicating, hosting, streaming, screening, disseminating or making available for viewing/downloading any part of the ICC events on any electronic or digital platform in any manner without authorization.
Background
The present matter relates to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 (‘T20 World Cup’) which is a Twenty20 cricket tournament operated by the International Cricket Council (‘ICC’). The plaintiff, Star India, owns media rights of various sporting events including domestic and international cricket matches organized by the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (‘BCCI’).
Star India entered into a media rights agreement dated 27-08-2022 (‘Agreement’) with ICC for exclusive media rights and television rights for India to various ICC events including the T20 World Cup from 2024 to 2027. The existence of these rights was confirmed by ICC vide letter dated 22-05-2024, as a consequence of which, Star India enjoyed broadcast reproduction rights as per Section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (‘Copyright Act’).
The defendants 1 to 9 were various rogue betting websites that were stated to be illegally offering online betting and gambling services in contravention of the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and were also illegally streaming live sporting events.
Based on past instances of illegal dissemination of major sporting events, Star India apprehended that once the ICC events commence, many websites including but not limited to the defendants, would be likely to indulge in unauthorized dissemination of the cricket matches, given their status as one of the most popular sporting events in the world. This apprehension and threat were based on the fact that the rogue betting websites had already started promoting the T20 World Cup on their platform.
Star India prayed for a specifically designed injunction that not only targets the websites that were presently engaged in infringing activities but also anticipates and includes any new websites that may emerge during the tournament.
Analysis and Decision
The Court noted that the broadcast content was fully safeguarded under the Copyright Act and thus, the unauthorized use of these elements not only affects the financial returns but also infringes the copyright protections accorded to the broadcast content.
The Court noted that the issue of rogue websites engaging in the piracy of copyrighted content presents a recurring threat, especially with the imminent ICC events. Therefore, the Court stated that there was a critical need for judicial intervention to prohibit these rogue websites from disseminating or communicating any portions of the events without proper authorization or licensing from Star India.
While referring to Universal City Studios LLC v. Dotmovies.baby, 2023 SCC OnLine Del 4955 the Court stated that given the fact that Star India’s digital rights and television rights are not in question, Star India had made out a prima facie case for the grant of an interim injunction and that not granting such injunction would cause irreparable harm to Star India.
Further, the Court stated that the short duration of the T20 matches meant that any delay in blocking access to rogue websites could lead to significant losses to Star India and cause an irreparable breach of their broadcast reproduction rights.
The Court restrained defendants no. 1 to 9 from communicating, hosting, streaming, screening, disseminating, or making available for viewing/downloading any part of the T20 World Cup on any electronic or digital platform in any manner without authorization.
Further, the Court directed the Domain Name Registrars to disclose the complete details of the rogue websites by filing an affidavit in this Court within two weeks. The Internet Service Providers (‘ISPs’) and Telecom Service Providers were also directed to block access to the rogue websites, and the Department of Telecommunications (‘DoT’) as well as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (‘MeitY’) were directed to issue necessary directions for blocking the websites.
The Court further directed that the ISPs shall take steps to immediately block any other rogue websites that are discovered of illegally streaming the ICC events upon receiving intimation from Star India, and the DoT along with MeitY shall also issue blocking orders regarding the same.
The Court directed that after communication of details of the rogue websites to the concerned authorities, Star India shall continue to file affidavits with the Court to keep the Court informed of the websites against which blocking orders are sought.
The Court also directed that if any website that is not primarily an infringing website is blocked due to the present order, they shall be permitted to approach the Court by giving an undertaking that it is not intended to engage in the unauthorized dissemination after which, the Court would consider modifying the injunction as required.
The Court held that considering the unique facts of the case, Star India was permitted to ensure compliance with Order 39 Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 within one week.
The matter was further listed on 05-11-2024.
[Star India Private Limited v. Magicwin.Games, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 4386, Order dated 30-05-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner — Advocate Sneha Jain, Advocate Sidharth Chopra, Advocate Yatinder Garg, Advocate Akshay Malod, Advocate Rimjhim Tiwari
For Respondent — Advocate Mrinal Ojha, Advocate Debarshi Dutta, Advocate Anand Raja, Advocate Arjun Mookerjee
