Delhi High Court Grants Zee Temporary Relief Against JioStar In Copyright Suit, Refers Parties To Mediation

The Delhi High Court has recently granted ad-interim relief to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited in its copyright suit against JioStar India Private Limited, while also referring the parties to mediation to explore an amicable settlement.

The court directed JioStar to ensure that it does not use, publish, broadcast, stream, upload, or make copies of Zee's licensed works within 15 days in a dispute over the alleged continued hosting of content after expiry of licensing agreements.

Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on May 5, 2026, in Zee's application seeking interim injunctive relief against alleged copyright infringement by JioStar.

According to Zee, JioStar was a former licensee of its content under agreements dated November 15, 2017, and November 6, 2020. Zee said the agreements required JioStar to immediately cease use and exploitation of the licensed content upon expiry or termination.

Zee contended that despite repeated communications asking JioStar to discontinue use of its content, some of its licensed works continued to remain available on JioStar's platform. It said the content was removed only when specifically identified by Zee, which it said was inconsistent with the licence terms.

Zee further said that in November 2025, JioStar had sought a one-month extension as a precautionary measure to address any inadvertent usage. However, it alleged that instances of infringement continued even thereafter.

Appearing for JioStar, senior counsel submitted that any remaining instances of Zee's content on its platform were “unintentional and purely residual in nature.” JioStar said that given the nature of its platform, it may not be possible to identify every specific instance without particulars from Zee.

JioStar said it had already taken down a substantial volume of Zee's licensed content after the expiry of the licences. It added that any remaining content could be removed if specifically identified by Zee. The company also said the dispute was fit for mediation.

Granting interim relief, the court said, “In the meanwhile, the Defendant shall ensure that the Defendant shall not use, publish, broadcast, stream, upload, make copies of any of the Plaintiff's licensed works in which the Plaintiff enjoys an exclusive Copyright within a period of 15 days.”

As both sides expressed willingness to explore an amicable settlement, the court referred the parties to mediation.

The matter will next be heard on July 23, 2026.

For Plaintiff: Advocate Harsh Kaushik, Advocate Abhay Chattopadhyay, Advocate Abhishek Shrivastava, Advocate Sachin Akhoury, Advocate Rohini Roy.

For Defendant: Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar, Advocate Sagar Chandra, Advocate Srijan Uppal, Advocate Mehek Dua, Advocate Stuti Jain, Advocate Sakshi Khandelwal, Advocate Nanam Maheshwari, Advocate Prabhav Bahuguna.