Ownership of a YouTube channel and rights to its content depend on the terms of management and licensing agreements; prima facie evidence favored the original content creator as the rightful owner.

ORDER

1. This order will dispose of five applications, namely, (i) I.A.5727/2021 filed by the plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 CPC, (ii) I.A.6086/2021 filed by the plaintiff under Order XXXIX R-2A CPC, (iii) I.A.7691/2021 filed by the plaintiff under Order XXXIX R-2A CPC, (iv) I.A.7062/2021 filed by the defendant No.1 under Order XXXIX Rule 4 CPC, and (v) I.A.6250/2021 filed by the applicant/Indya Records and Films Private Limited (i.e., proposed defendant No.4) under Order I Rule 10 CPC for impleadment.

2. Before proceeding further, a few facts may be noted. The plaintiff is an integrated Media and Entertainment Company and is a part of a Group Company division, namely, `Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training', which is a reputed organization, engaged in the field of imparting trainings in the field of Aviation, Hospitality, Travel Management and Customer Services. It claims to have set up the largest network of `State of the Art' Cent res in India and built a formidable reputation for quality training, earning several awards. Since 2007, it has also entered the arena of music and had its first home entertainment release. It has also produced a movie named, "SAT SRI AKAL", which was released in the year 2008 in theatres and later, on VCD/DVD and thereafter, on Netflix. Thus, over a period of time, the plaintiff has also established a name in the field of religious preaching, music and home entertainment and claims to have emerged as a leading player in Shabad Gurbani videos and audios.

3. Mr. Sanjeev Sindhwani, learned senior counsel for the plaintiff, submitted that the defendant No.3/Google LLC is an online video sharing platform, allowing users to upload, view, rate, share, etc., videos and create channels for uploading various contents. The defendant No.2- M/s. Indya Records, through its proprietor Mr.Kanwal Deep Kohli, created a YouTube channel, initially called, `Divine Amrit Bani' for and on behalf of the plaintiff. The content for uploading on the said channel was provided solely by the plaintiff. The YouTube channel was renamed "Shabad Kirtan Gurbani - Divine Amrit Bani" having URL www.youtube.com/user/divineamritbani (hereinafter referred to as the "Suit Channel"), and is available on the platform of defendant No.3.

4. According to the plaintiff, the defendant No.2 used to manage the Suit Channel for the plaintiff and there was no doubt about the ownership of the channel vesting with the plaintiff. However, the defendant No.1 has unlawfully started asserting ownership rights in respect of the Suit Channel, on the basis of some arrangement with the defendant No.2, which was also only to manage the Suit Channel. This was evident from the `About Section', which showed the plaintiff as the rightful owner and the employees of the plaintiff as the `Content Creation/A&R Head' and `Creative Consultant/Visualizer'. The contact numbers and emails IDs displayed thereon also belonged to the plaintiff. The defendant No.1 was, however, shown only as the `Digital Partner'. There were other features on the Suit Channel, such as, the `Join Us At Facebook' section, which led the users to the Facebook Account owned and operated by the plaintiff.

5. The defendant No.1 received the Username/Email ID and Password from Mr. Kanwal Deep Kohli, proprietor of the defendant No.2, only in order to manage the said Suit Channel and for purposes of exploitation of the plaintiff's content and the sharing of the ID and password was not a transfer of ownership. It is also the contention of the learned senior counsel for the plaintiff that the arrangement with the defendant No.2, when the Suit Channel was created in the year 2012, was of revenue sharing in the proportion of 60:40 between the plaintiff and the defendant No.2 (Clause 3.1 of Document No.17 of plaintiff). When the management came into the hands of the defendant No.1, a similar revenue sharing arrangement was entered into between them on 18th June, 2015 (Document No.1