Delhi High Court Upholds Star, Disney+ Hotstar's Exclusive Rights, Blocks Rogue Websites
Star and Disney+ Hotstar had expressed concern that certain rogue websites engaged in the unauthorised telecast of cricket events.
The Delhi High Court recently provided relief to Star India Pvt. and Disney+ Hotstar by recognising their exclusive rights to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, along with other ICC events.
The court acknowledged that unauthorised websites violating these rights have already been blocked.
The case involves Star India, a prominent broadcaster in India with ownership of 65 TV channels in eight languages covering general entertainment and sports. Star India also holds broadcasting rights for various sporting events, including domestic and international cricket matches organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council.
Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt. operates the online streaming platform www.hotstar.com and the mobile application 'Disney+ Hotstar'. This platform streams events for which Star India holds exclusive rights.
They acquired exclusive global media rights, including television and digital rights (internet and mobile), along with ancillary rights for ICC events from 2015 to 2023.
Star India and Disney+ Hotstar expressed concern that certain rogue websites had previously engaged in the unauthorised telecast of cricket events for which they held exclusive rights, including the VIVO IPL 2021.
The plaintiffs feared a continuation of such infringement in the case of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. To address this, the plaintiffs requested that the Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology direct all internet service providers to block these rogue websites.
The high court bench accordingly noted that the suspension of the said websites would continue.
