The Delhi High Court has banned 23 websites from disseminating, hosting, streaming, retransmitting, displaying, and downloading the upcoming film Ram Setu. Given the significant investments made by the filmmakers, Justice Jyoti Singh stated that the producer, Cape of Good Films, and the author of the film had established a prima facie case for the issuance of ex parte ad-interim relief.
The producer listed 23 video sharing websites that are well-known for providing users with download links to movies and web series. The petitioners claimed that the websites in question had been preparing to publish or host the movie “Ram Setu” by developing websites that bore the title and posters of the movie and making promises to offer the option to stream or download the film.
In addition, the producer claimed that these websites deliberately and regularly violate third-party copyrights by disseminating illegal copies of films that are legally protected or by serving as a directory for such violations.
Supreme Court in its Judgment said “This court prima facie agrees with the plaintiff that if the rogue websites communicate the film in any way, on any platform, concurrently with the theatrical release of the film on October 25 or in its close proximity thereafter, it would seriously harm the plaintiff’s interest, both financially and legally. This court cites the plaintiff’s investments in the production and promotion of the film as well as the exclusive rights vested in it under the provisions of the Act.”
According to the complaint, it is standard practice for films to initially be released for theatrical presentation before being made available for watching on various platforms. However, the websites create unauthorized copies and make them accessible to the public for viewing, downloading, and transmission virtually simultaneously with the theatrical debut of the movie. The plaintiff anticipated that these websites would distribute illegal copies of the movie on various websites, which would negatively affect their business and devalue the movie, in addition to violating their copyright.
