Delhi High Court Injuncts 23 Rogue Websites Illegaly Streaming UEFA Champions League 2025–26
Holding that piracy of live sports poses a “recurring threat” and that any delay would cause irreparable copyright breach and revenue loss, the Delhi High Court on February 5 granted an ex parte ad interim injunction blocking 23 rogue websites from unauthorisedly streaming matches of the ongoing UEFA Champions League 2025–26.
Justice Jyoti Singh observed that the Champions League season is currently underway and will conclude only in May 2026. Any delay in blocking access to infringing platforms, the court said, would result in continuing violation of copyright and financial loss.
“The issue of rogue websites engaged in piracy of copyrighted content is posing a recurring threat and there is no gainsaying that piracy must be curbed and needs to be dealt with a heavy hand,” the court observed.
The case was filed as a commercial suit regarding the infringement of copyrights in the audio-visual footage, logos, graphics, and music associated with the UEFA Champions League 2025-26. The suit specifically targeted a network of 23 rogue websites and various intermediaries, including Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
UEFA, a Swiss association of associations and the Governing Body for European football, filed the suit to protect its intellectual property rights relating to one of the most prestigious club competitions in football, the UEFA Champions League (UCL). The governing body stated that it owns all underlying rights, including the copyright in the audio-visual footage and UEFA Copyright Works, which encompass creative logos, graphics, brands, and the musical anthem.
In India, UEFA has licensed these media rights to Culver Max, with matches available on linear television through Sony Sports Network and live-streamed via the SonyLIV OTT platform.
The suit identified several websites, impleaded as Defendants No. 1 to 23, which have been found streaming proprietary content relating to the UCL in the past. UEFA alleged that these platforms are structured with the objective of enabling unlawful consumption of copyrighted content and operate without any verifiable contact information.
UEFA submitted that although the matches are organized outside India, UEFA's copyright is protected under Section 40 of the Copyright Act, 1957, read with the International Copyright Order, 1999.
The Court granted an ex parte ad interim injunction barring 23 rogue websites from hosting or streaming any part of the UCL 2025-26. DNRs were ordered to lock and suspend the specific domain names. Similarly, ISPs were also directed to block access to these websites immediately.
The bench allowed UEFA to implead newly discovered mirror variations of the websites throughout the tournament without needing a new suit for each one.
Accordingly, the court restrained the websites from communicating, hosting, streaming, screening, disseminating or making available for viewing/downloading without authorization, any part of UEFA Champions League 2025-26, on any electronic or digital platform, in any manner whatsoever.
For UEFA: Advocates Sidharth Chopra, Yatinder Garg and Disha Sharma