New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has prevented as many as 18 websites from illegally streaming ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’, a film starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in lead roles, after allowing a lawsuit filed by Star India regarding copyright infringement. Copyright.
Star India, in its lawsuit, pointed out that it is an industry practice to first release the film for theatrical release and then make it available for viewing on different platforms. The theatrical release of a film is the most important stage since the commercial value of a film depends on the popularity and success it achieves in this period.
“However, rogue websites for illegal profit make infringing copies and make them available to the public for viewing, downloading and streaming, almost simultaneously with the film’s theatrical release. In the past, infringing copies of various Plaintiff-produced/distributed films have been disclosed to the public and made available for viewing and download, on various websites, within hours of theatrical release,” they said.
In the recent order, after considering the arguments of the parties, Judge Jyoti Singh noted the investments made by the Claimant (Star India) in the production and promotion of the film, stating that the exclusive right granted to him under the provisions of the Copyright Act.
“Defendants #1-18 and all others acting on their behalf are prohibited from hosting, transmitting, rebroadcasting, displaying, making available for viewing and downloading, providing access to, and/or communicating to the public in any way, display, upload, modify, publish, update and/or share on their websites through the Internet or any other platform, the movie ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’ and the contents related to it, in order to infringe the Claimant’s copyright, until the next hearing date,” the court said.
It also directed the Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to issue the necessary notifications requesting various internet service providers to block access to the websites of the unauthorized websites.
“There is no benefit in saying that piracy should be cracked down on and cracked down and an injunction should be granted against the showing of copyrighted content by rogue websites,” the court noted.
“This position is recognized and reaffirmed in several decisions and to avoid prolixity I can only refer to two sentences of this court…”, the court said referring to several sentences in relation to the matter.
