Today, On 14th June, The Delhi High Court intervened to halt the illegal streaming of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The court’s decision aims to protect the broadcasting rights and prevent unauthorized online distribution. This action highlights the legal measures being taken to combat digital piracy.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court issued an interim order restraining the unauthorized streaming and broadcast of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This order passed on a plea by Star India Private Limited, the official broadcaster of the event, who expressed concerns over the illegal dissemination of major sporting events in the past.
The order issued by Justice Sanjeev Naurla, who granted the relief sought by Star India against several rogue websites that were likely to engage in the unauthorized distribution of the cricket matches on their platforms.
Read Also: Delhi HC Dismissed Plea Against Appointment of NSIDC Chairman
Star India, a major media company, claimed that it held the rights to broadcast various sporting events, including both domestic and international cricket matches organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Based on past instances of unauthorized streaming of major sporting events, Star India expressed strong concerns that certain online platforms might engage in illegal dissemination of the upcoming T20 World Cup, which scheduled to take place from June 2 to June 24 in the West Indies and the United States.
Recognizing the widespread appeal and importance of ICC events, especially in the Indian subcontinent, the court noted that unauthorized broadcasting of these events poses a serious threat to the revenue streams of the plaintiff, which owns several channels and the online video-streaming platform Hotstar.
The court stated in a recent ruling,
“Thus, immediate action to prevent such infringements is essential to safeguard the plaintiff’s investment in broadcasting rights and uphold their copyright protection,”
Read Also: [BREAKING] “Conspiracy Against Prime Minister is Treason”: Delhi HC
The court ordered,
“Defendants No. 1 to 9, and any individuals acting on their behalf, are prohibited from communicating, hosting, streaming, screening, disseminating, or making available for viewing or downloading any part of the ICC events, particularly the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, on any electronic or digital platform without authorization.”
The court stated that if any additional infringing websites identified, the plaintiff is permitted to inform the telecom department and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the issuance of blocking orders.
Furthermore, the court directed Internet Service Providers and Telecom Service Providers to block access to these unauthorized websites.