The Delhi High Court last week restrained, via an ex-parte interim order, over 60 websites, some radio channels, and over 30 internet and telecom service providers from broadcasting audio of the ICC World Cup 2019, per LiveLaw. The plaintiff, Channel 2 Group Corporation, holds exclusive audio rights to the World Cup; this includes exclusive rights to stream the audio on an internet platforms and radio channels, or make it available on-demand. In total, 64 websites, 4 private radio stations, and 36 internet and telecom service providers were retrained from broadcasting audio of the World Cup. Other than live.mycricketlive.net, the websites, radio stations, and internet & telecom service providers haven’t been named. The next hearing is on September 4, and the World Cup 2019 ends on July 14. The 105 platforms can however, as long as they comply with the court order, relay scores of cricket matches with a 15-minute lag.
Search engines, telcos ordered to take down websites
The court has ordered:
- Search engines to take down or delete infringing websites/URLs from search results. It is unclear which search engines these are
- Telecom and internet service providers to block access to infringing websites. It’s unclear which TSPs and ISPs these are
- Ordered that the registry shall assist with serving Ashok Kumar orders as and when the Channel 2 Group finds unlicensed broadcasts of the World Cup
The court order, passed on June 3, has to be complied with within 10 days of being passed. Channel 2 Group Corporation had argued that its copyright has been infringed in the past, and further infringement would lead to considerable financial loss. It also argued that tracking websites which are abusing the copyright is a “time consuming, mammoth task” “due to the unique nature of online piracy and unstructured nature of the internet”. If the company waits to identify the infringing websites, and then collect evidence of infringement, “significant time would be lost” and the World Cup may come to an end.
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