Delhi High Court sides with Star India; restricts portals from airing T20 World Cup matches

Delhi High Court sides with Star India; restricts portals from airing T20 World Cup matches

The channel owns the media rights for the event that began on October 16

The Delhi High Court has provided succor to Star India after it filed a suit for copyright infringement in the Star India Private Ltd and Anr vs T1.MyLiveCricket.Club and Ors case.

The bench comprising Justice Navin Chawla restrained eight websites from hosting, streaming, broadcasting, or rebroadcasting any cricketing event related to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

The court ordered the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs), the Department of Technology, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Internet Service Providers to block the websites.

It ruled, "The blocking orders shall be issued by the DoT within 24 hours after service of this order. Pursuant to the order(s), all ISPs, that is, the defendant Nos. 13–21, shall block access to the URLs and the mobile applications and shall not permit the download of these applications or the streaming of the rogue websites."

Star India had approached the court arguing that it owned and operated television channels and Over-the-Top (OTT) platform Disney+Hotstar, which has exclusive media rights for the World Cup. It stated the apprehension that a bunch of websites was likely to illegally stream and telecast the matches. The worry emanated from the fact that the websites were streaming this year's Australia and South Africa India tour matches.

The court held, "Considering the investment the plaintiff has made in acquiring the rights of these events, any illegal broadcasting would severely affect its monetary interest. It would also diminish the value of the rights of such sporting events."

While passing the order for an interim injunction, it directed the DNRs to provide information to Star India about the infringing websites. The court also allowed Star India to file an affidavit if it came across more such websites, which would be blocked immediately.