Sony secures court protection against illegal transmission of cricket series

Sony secures court protection against illegal transmission of cricket series

Dynamic John Doe injection granted by Delhi High Court to protect infringement for copyrights of two cricket series involving India

Anticipating breach of copyrights, the Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has secured a John Doe injection order from the Delhi High Court against two cricket series involving India.

The injunction protects it from infringement of copyrights of two upcoming series. While India is slated to tour its southern neighbour Sri Lanka for a limited overs series in July under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan, the Virat Kohli-led Team Indian is scheduled to play five Test match series against England in England in August-September this year.

SPN has acquired from the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited (ECB) as well as from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) an exclusive license to broadcast the matches in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and the Maldives for the India Tour of England 2021 and worldwide, excluding Sri Lanka, for the India Tour of Sri Lanka 2021.

The Dynamic John Doe will shield SPN from unlawful and unauthorized dissemination of IPs on the internet and other social media platforms.

The injunction order passed by the Delhi High Court restrains Internet Service Providers (ISPs), cable operators and websites from carrying content that violates SPN's copyright in the broadcast and digital transmission rights.

With the Dynamic injunction in hand, SPN would be able to obtain an injunction against other websites and ISPs also if it finds that they are violating its copyrights.

The Delhi High Court, on SPN's request, has appointed two local commissioners to ascertain and report to it whether the Multi-System Operators (MSOs) and Local Cable Operators (LCOs), are unauthorizedly or illegally distributing or transmitting the cricketing events in a bid to combat piracy in the ground.