Delhi High Court orders blocking of PikaShow app after Star files copyright infringement suit

The Delhi High Court recently ordered the blocking of mobile streaming application PikaShow after Star India filed a suit for copyright infringement [Star India Pvt Ltd & Anr v. PikaShow Application and Ors]..Pikashow is an application that provides free content of all well-known Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms and was alleged to have been involved in piracy of various copyrighted content..Justice Prathiba M Singh passed the blocking orders after noting that the app was “unabashedly and brazenly making available a large amount of copyrighted content” including that of Star’s.“On a perusal of the pages of the App, it does not appear that any non-infringing content is available on a substantial portion of the App. Even the studies conducted by Lumen (publicly available database) as cited by the Plaintiffs (Star India), and the large volume of cease-and-desist letters and complaints made against the App, prima facie establish that the App is a rogue App and deserves to be blocked as a whole, as past experience has shown that blocking of URLs themselves may not be sufficient to stop the streaming of infringing content,” the Court said..It added that the large volume of infringing content on the app, coupled with the way the app is sought to be made accessible and downloadable using various deceptive methods, leaves no doubt that the intention of the owners is to subvert any technological measures that may be there on established platforms, to ensure that infringing content can continue to be streamed.“It is also seen that the App permits advertising and thus there is a monetary benefit also being derived therefrom.”.The Court, therefore, ordered the Department of Technology (DoT) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to issue blocking orders against the app, including against all the source domains provided by the plaintiff and any further domain names/source domains which may be brought to their notice..Star had approached the Court stating that the manner in which the content of PikaShow is divided into Hollywood, Bollywood, TV series and Live TV itself shows that its unique selling point is that it is providing copyrighted content free of cost.It was argued that the app is downloadable through third party marketplaces and Telegram channels, and not through Google Play Store or Apple Store.The Court was told that over 500 complaints have been made against the app by third-parties seeking its removal from online search results and the same is evident from a search of Lumen Project.It was further stated that the app’s domains keep changing from time to time, making it harder to identify the source of the infringing content..After hearing the case, Justice Singh directed the advertisers on the app to disclose the contact details, bank accounts, payments made or sale agreements entered into with PikaShow.“Github India Private Limited which seems to be providing infrastructure services for the App shall also disclose all details available with it in respect of the ‘PIKASHOW APP’ including name of individuals, entities associated with the App/representing the App in its transactions, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, agreements, payment details, credit card details, bank account details, etc. including IP logs, within one week, by filing an affidavit in this regard,” the Court ordered.A direction has also been passed to the Domain Name Registrars (DNR) to block the domain of the app and disclose all the details of the registrants. The Court has also sought a status report from the Delhi Police in its ongoing investigation against the platform..Advocates Sidharth Chopra, Yatinder Garg, Snehima Jaunari and Ambika Dilwali appeared for Star India.Advocates Alipak Banerjee, Parva Khare, Anurag Ahluwalia, Danish Faraz Khan and Hetu Arora Sethi appeared for the defendants. .[Read Order]