Delhi HC restrains rogue websites from illegally streaming ‘Unstoppable’ show

The Delhi High Court has passed an order restraining rogue websites from illegally streaming episodes of the Telugu talk show ‘Unstoppable’ just before the airing of an episode featuring Prabhas Raju. In a ‘John Doe’ order from the Delhi High Court, media company Arha Media and Broadcasting has secured the order restraining all websites and broadcasters, including www.vcinemas.com, and the ‘world at large’ from airing its talk show ‘Unstoppable’, featuring Nandamuri Balakrishna as host which is streamed vide its OTT platform.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva on Wednesday passed an ex-parte order of ad-interim injunction restraining 92 rogue websites from illegally and unauthorizedly disseminating any content in the Telugu talk show ‘Unstoppable’. The judge also directed the DoT and MeitY to block access to these websites as well as to pull down 349 infringing links which had been found illegally streaming content from the Season 1 and Season 2 episodes of the said talk show series.

This order was passed in a suit instituted by Anand and Naik on behalf of Arha Media and Broadcasting Private Limited, the proprietor in respect of all Intellectual Property Rights (including Copyright and Broadcast Reproduction Rights) in the ‘Unstoppable’ talk-show series. The said suit had been filed ahead of the Plaintiff airing the 5th Episode of the 2nd Season of the ‘Unstoppable’ series featuring the actor Prabhas Raju. On account of the huge popularity of Prabhas, the Plaintiff apprehended large-scale piracy of the said episode and had accordingly filed the suit to safeguard its rights and its commercial investment. The court held that it was satisfied that the Plaintiff had been able to make out a strong prima-facie case in its favour for the grant of an order of ex-parte ad-interim injunction, in the nature of a dynamic injunction. It also observed that considering the investment that the Plaintiff has made in the said talk show series, any illegal broadcast of the same would severely affect the monetary interest of the Plaintiff as also diminish the value of the Plaintiff’s talk show series.

The media company was represented by the law firm Anand and Naik in the high court and the same was argued by senior attorneys Ameet Naik and Pravin Anand. The legal team also involves advocates Dhruv Anand, Madhu Gadodia, Udita Patro, Sujoy Mukherji, Megha Chandra, Tarini Kulkarni and Rasika Dhebe. The company has recently approached the Delhi HC by instituting a ‘John Doe’ suit seeking an injunction to restrain illegal and unauthorized dissemination of the original web talk show, which is set to air its upcoming episode tomorrow (December 30) featuring Telugu film industry superstar Prabhas.

The company expects substantial viewership for this episode that would result in higher monetary gain. It has already spent Rs 17 crore for the production, promotion and marketing activities of the talk-show series. The Plaintiff claims to be the sole and exclusive proprietor of the Intellectual Property Rights in a talk show series ‘Unstoppable’ which airs on its OTT platform, noted the court.

Plaintiff claimed to be the proprietor of all the copyrightable works in the talk show series ‘Unstoppable’, and claims to enjoy exclusive broadcast reproduction rights in respect of the broadcast of the said talk show series on its OTT platform. Commenting on the verdict, veteran lawyer Ameet Naik, Joint Managing Partner of Anand and Naik said: “Piracy of films, web series, entertainment content has always been a huge menace in the Media and Entertainment industry. Before a film is released in theatres, there are rogue websites and various links which make the movie available to the public at large, which has significant adverse effect on the commercial performance of the film. In an effort to combat the said menace, the Courts have historically been indulgent in granting ‘John Doe’ orders prior to release of films. The present order passed by the Delhi High Court passed in favour of Arha Media owner of the OTT platform ‘aha’, is a similar order wherein the Hon’ble Delhi High Court has granted John Doe order for the show “Unstoppable” originally produced and made available exclusively by an OTT platform, wherein infringing links were making the show and its episodes available, even prior to the release of the show on the OTT platform. The order of Delhi High Court to address piracy and grant reliefs is highly commendable.”

‘Unstoppable’ was first launched on November 4, 2021 and it concluded in February 2022. Following the success of season 1, the season 2 started in October this year and the show is still continuing. This ‘John Doe’ order is a first of its kind obtained by an OTT platform in respect of original content. Significantly, it is not only an injunction against the infringers and the ‘world at large’ from telecasting, hosting, or distributing the web content for both its seasons, but also operates as a precedent for all future works which emanate from the web talk show that has the scope to include future episodes, seasons, and metaverse exploitation of the show on future modes as well. ANI