The Delhi High Court last week granted dynamic+ injunction to protect copyrighted works of plaintiffs Netflix, Disney, Universal Studios and other companies engaged in production and distribution of movies against 26 separate rogue websites.
Justice Anish Dayal observed that in order “to keep up with the hydra-headed nature of the infringement actions of such websites” , such dynamic+ injunction will help protect the copyrighted works as soon as they are created.
Court was hearing the suit filed by plaintiffs seeking permanent injunction restraining the defendants and all those acting for/on their behalf, from hosting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, disseminating on the internet in any manner whatsoever, any cinematograph work/content/programme in relation to which the plaintiffs have copyright, and other attendant reliefs.
The works created by plaintiffs include sound recordings accompanied with visuals, and qualify as cinematograph film under Section 2(f) of the Copyright Act, 1957 and, therefore, are entitled to protection by virtue of Section 13(1) read with Sections 13(2) and (5) of the Act. Plaintiffs, therefore, claim to have exclusive rights under Section 14(d) read with Section 17 of the Act.
Upon examining the facts on record, Court was of the opinion that the plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for grant of ex-parte ad-interim injunction and also a dynamic injunction.
Justice Dayal said-
“Balance of convenience lies in favour of plaintiffs as irreparable loss would be caused if the same is not granted.”
After directing the concerned authorities to block access to these infringing websites, within 48 hours of receipt of the order, Court directed the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take steps to ensure that Internet Service Providers comply with the said directions.
Thereafter, Justice Dayal acknowledged the peculiar circumstances with regard to the anticipation of infringement in such cases as there is “an imminent possibility” of works being uploaded on infringing websites or their newer versions immediately after being created.
Finally, Court granted the plaintiffs, liberty to also file such an appropriate application seeking protection qua their copyrighted works, including future works, if the need so arises.
Author: Nitish Kashyap
Please view judgment here.