The Delhi High Court recently passed a John Doe order against the illegal distribution of the movie ‘Bombay Velvet’ The injunction came in a suit filed by Fox Star Studios India Ltd and Phantom Media (represented by Saikrishna & Associates) against MacPuler Willam and 23 other movie-sharing websites.
The order comes a day before the film’s scheduled release.
A Single Bench headed by Justice Indermeet Kaur issued notice on the plea while noting that there existed a ‘prima-facie case’ in favour of the plaintiffs. She further stated that the injunction order was necessitated to avoid ‘irreparable financial loss’ to the production house helming the crime drama.
After hearing Rajiv Nayyar who appeared for the plaintiffs and argued that ‘the mischief usually occurs while the film reels are transported to various cinema halls’, the Bench further held,
“…accordingly till the next date of hearing, defendants, their partners, proprietors, directors,agents and other known and unknown parties are restrained from hosting, streaming, making available for viewing, downloading, providing access to…or sharing without authorisation on their website, in any manner,the film Bombay Velvet.”
The Court also directed Internet Service Providers (ISP) to block access to unlicensed content on any website showing the movie, upon notification by the plaintiffs.
While directing the Department of Telecommunications and Department of Electronics & Information Technology to ensure compliance by the ISPs, the Bench posted the matter for further hearing on September 9, 2015.
Read the order below.
