[ad_1]
The Delhi High Court recently restrained 23 “rogue websites” from illegally hosting or streaming Akshay Kumar-starrer Ram Setu which is scheduled for release on October 25.
A single judge bench of Justice Jyoti Singh passed an interim order Tuesday after the producer ‘Cape of Good Films LLP’ moved the high court claiming that they had invested a huge sum in producing the film and have been actively promoting the same with a great deal of work put into its marketing, distribution and advertising.
The producer argued that they are the owner of the film and have exclusive rights “qua the film” under the provisions of the Copyright Act 1957. Therefore any “hosting, streaming, distribution, and/or communicating the film to the public or facilitating the same”, without authorisation from the producer on any platform, including internet and mobile would infringe the producer’s copyright.
The high court observed, “Looking at the investments made by the plaintiff in the production and promotion of the film as also the exclusive right vested in it under the provisions of the Act, this court prima facie agrees with the plaintiff that if the rogue websites communicate the film in any manner, on any platform, simultaneously with the theatrical release of the film on 25.10.2022 or in its close proximity thereafter, it would severely impact the interest of the plaintiff monetarily and will also erode the value of the film”.
The high court thereafter restrained the “rogue websites” from streaming, hosting or providing access to or communicating the film ‘Ram Setu’ on their websites through the internet or any other platform till the next date of hearing. The main suit is next listed on February 20 next year.
The court further directed the directors and proprietors of the websites who are the “Domain Name Registrants” to suspend/block the domain name registrations of the 23 websites mentioned by the producer in his complaint.
The high court additionally directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to issue necessary notifications calling upon various Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to the websites.
[ad_2]
Source link