The judgment establishes the legal principle that unauthorized distribution of copyrighted films is prohibited under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, and perpetrators can be held liable for damages and costs.

JUDGMENT

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present suit has been filed by the Plaintiff - Star India Pvt. Ltd. seeking protection against unauthorized, illegal distribution of the film Brahmastra Part One: Shiva.

3. The Plaintiff is a leading production and distribution company in India which has produced a number of Hindi films whose details are set out in the plaint. One such cinematograph film was Brahmastra Part One: Shiva (film) which was released in 2022 starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and many more.

4. The present suit was filed by the Plaintiff seeking injunction against several rogue websites and other related platforms who are involved in the piracy of the said film. The Defendants in the suit are as under:

i. Defendant Nos. 1 to 18 - Rogue websites.

ii. Defendant Nos. 19 to 21 - Co-producers of the film.

iii. Defendant Nos. 22 to 28 - Domain Name Registrars (DNRs).

iv. Defendant Nos. 29 to 37 - ISPs.

v. Defendant Nos. 38 & 39 - DoT and MEITY.

vi. Defendant Nos. 41 to 359 - Additional rogue websites who were impleaded during the pendency of the present suit.

5. It is submitted that the said film was co-produced with Defendant Nos. 19 to 21 namely M/s Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Ayan Mukerjee and Mr. Ranbir Kapoor respectively. The film was released on 9th September, 2022.

6. The present case was filed by the Plaintiff apprehending that the rogue websites, Defendants Nos.1 to 18 are likely to broadcast or communicate infringing copies of the film on various websites which would directly impact the Plaintiff's business and erode the value of the film besides infringing its copyright. At the inception of proceedings, when the suit was initially filed only against Defendant Nos. 1 to 39, the Court had granted an interim injunction on 2nd September, 2022 in the following terms:

"19. There is no gain saying that piracy has to be curbed and needs to be dealt with a heavy hand and injunction against screening of copyrighted content by rogue websites ought to be granted. This position is acknowledged and re-affirmed in several decisions and in order to avoid prolixity, I may only allude to two judgments of this Court in Department of Electronics and Information Technology v. Star India Private Limited, 2016 SCC OnLine Del 4160 and UTV Software Communication Ltd. (Supra). The legal position with regard to grant of dynamic injunctions is settled in UTV Software Communication Ltd. (Supra) and learned counsel for the Plaintiff is right in his submission that several orders have been passed by this Court in the past, restraining the rogue websites.

20. Tested on the anvil of these decisions, in my view, Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad-interim relief. Balance of convenience lies in favour of the Plaintiff and it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in case the injunction, as prayed for, is not granted. For the sake of convenience particulars of Defendants No.1 to 18, i.e. the rogue websites along with their domain name Registrars are set out as under:

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21. Looking at the investments made by the Plaintiff in the production and promotion of the film as also the exclusive right vested in it under the provisions of the Copyright Act, this Court prima facie agrees with the Plaintiff that if the rogue websites communicate the film in any manner, on any platform, simultaneously with the theatrical release of the film on 09.09.2022 or in its close proximity thereafter, it would severely impact the interest of the Plaintiff monetarily and will also erode the value of the film.

22. Accordingly, the following directions are issued:

a. Defendants No.1 to 18 and all others acting for and/or on their behalf are restrained from in any manner hosting, streaming, retransmitting, exhibiting, making available for viewing and downloading, providing access to and/or communicating to the public, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing