Star India Pvt. Ltd. v. Aapkeaajanese.net & Ors.
(2022) 92 PTC 581
In the High Court of Delhi
CS (Comm) 510/2019 and IA 12818/2019 & 13317/2022
Before Justice Navin Chawla
Decided on August 31, 2022

Relevancy of the Case: Permanent injunction against rogue websites for displaying copyrighted content without authorisation

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Order XIII A)
• The Copyright Act, 1957 (Section 14(d))

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The plaintiff filed a case requesting the court to pass a decree of permanent injunction against the defendants. The defendants infringed the plaintiff’s copyright by illegally circulating their original content without due authorisation.
• The plaintiff hired an independent investigator, whose investigation revealed the extent of infringing activities.
• Defendants 1 to 67 did not comply with the court’s takedown orders passed earlier. However, defendants 69 to 89 submitted their affidavits of compliance and were impleaded as proforma defendants.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel relied on the court’s judgment in UTV Software Communication Ltd. v. 1337.x (2019). In this case, the court held the infringing websites guilty of copyright infringement and laid the guidelines for determining rogue websites.

Opinion of the Bench

• Based on the UTV Software Communication Ltd. judgment, the court declared defendants 1 to 67 as rogue websites. These websites’ primary purpose was to provide unauthorised and infringing content to the public. Moreover, they refused to take down infringing content despite receiving legal notices.

Final Decision

• The court accepted the plaintiff’s prayer and disposed of the pending applications.

Kanika Verma, an undergraduate student at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, prepared this case summary during her association with The Cyber Blog India in January 2023.