Supreme Court Stays Calcutta HC Order Holding Unlicensed IPRS Music In Hotels Is Copyright Infringement

Today, the Supreme Court stayed a Calcutta High Court judgment holding that providing cable television connections to individual hotel rooms amounts to “communication to the public” under the Copyright Act, 1957 and constitutes copyright infringement. A Bench comprising Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Arun Palli issued notice and stayed the High Court judgment while hearing Hotel Appolo & Tours Private Limited's challenge to the judgment dated 4 August 2026. Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan...

Karnataka High Court Refuses Plea Seeking $2.5 Million From eBay Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

The Karnataka High Court has recently declined to entertain a writ petition by retired Army officer Lt. Col. D.K. Havanoor seeking USD 2.5 million in damages from eBay entities over alleged copyright infringement.Justice M.G.S. Kamal passed the order on August 3, 2026, while giving Havanoor liberty to pursue his grievance before a competent court.Havanoor's grievance concerned a book that he claimed belonged to him and which, according to the order, was displayed and sold through eBay.com for...

Madras High Court Grants Anti-Piracy Injunctions For 'Batwara 1947,' 'Awarapan 2'

The Madras High Court has recently granted anti-piracy protection to the Hindi films Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2 after their producers approached the Court apprehending copyright infringement. The films were scheduled for release on August 13 and August 14, respectively. Justice K. Surender passed separate common orders on August 14 on applications filed by Aamir Khan Productions Pvt Ltd for Batwara 1947 and Vishesh Pictures Pvt Ltd for Awarapan 2. Both production houses approached the...

Madras High Court Allows OTT Rights Holder Of Pawan Kalyan-Starrer Movie To Seek ₹4 Crore Refund From Producer

The Madras High Court has allowed Vijay Kothari, who claims exclusive digital, satellite, and OTT rights over Pawan Kalyan-starrer Hari Hara Veera Mallu, to amend his plaint against Mega Surya Productions. He can now seek the return of ₹4 crore under an Assignment Agreement, along with 18% interest.However, Justice K. Kumaresh Babu rejected Kothari's request to raise his damages claim from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh. The court held that the plaint did not contain the necessary pleadings to support the...

Delhi High Court Refuses To Stop TV Channel From Airing SGPC's Live Gurbani Broadcast

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to pass a temporary order stopping Galactic Television and Communications Pvt Ltd from re-broadcasting the live Gurbani feed from Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar. The order came in a copyright suit filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani found prima facie merit in the channels' submissions that the broadcast, which is not offered to viewers for payment, may not fall within the broadcast reproduction right...

Why Can Scammers Access Meta's Copyright Strike Tool While Creators Are Denied? Delhi High Court Asks

The Delhi High Court has asked Meta to place on record its policy, guidelines, and eligibility criteria for access to its "Rights Manager" tool, questioning why the anti-plagiarism tool is not available to content creators with large followings while scammers appear to be getting access to it.Rights Manager is a Meta tool that allows content creators and rights holders to identify when their original content is copied or uploaded by another person and take action against the matching...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice On YouTuber's Plea Challenging Meta's Copyright Strike Mechanism

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on an application by stock market trading content creator Saurabh Maurya challenging the manner in which his account was suspended following copyright strikes. Even as Meta informed the court that Maurya's account had been restored and the strikes against it reversed, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani issued notice on his broader challenge to the manner in which intermediaries act on copyright strikes. Maurya approached the court after his account was...

Madras High Court Restrains Piracy Of Lokesh Kanagaraj-Starrer 'DC' Ahead Of Release

The Madras High Court has restrained internet service providers and cable TV operators from facilitating the apprehended copyright violation of Sun TV Network Limited's upcoming Tamil film "DC."The film, starring filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj in his lead acting debut, is slated for theatrical release on August 7.Justice K. Kumaresh Babu on August 5 passed the order on two applications filed by Sun TV in a copyright infringement suit, one directed at major ISPs including BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone, Jio,...

Playing IPRS-Owned Music In Hotel Rooms Without Licence Is Copyright Infringement: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has restrained Hotel Appolo & Tours Private Limited from communicating literary and musical works owned by members of The Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS) to guests through television sets in its hotel rooms without first obtaining a valid licence from the copyright society. It held that routing cable television connections to hotel rooms amounts to "communication to the public" under the Copyright Act, 1957.A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and...

Delhi Commercial Court Orders Blocking Of Websites Selling Pirated TrendyTech Course

A commercial court in Saket, New Delhi, has granted an ex parte interim injunction restraining the unauthorised sale and distribution of pirated copies of TrendyTech Insights LLP's copyrighted "GDL TrendyTech Ultimate Big Data Masters Program" course. It also directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), along with internet service providers and other intermediaries, to block access to the infringing websites, while...

Foreign Seat Of Arbitration Alone Doesn't Oust Indian Courts' Jurisdiction To Grant Interim Relief: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has ruled that merely choosing a foreign seat of arbitration does not, by itself, prevent Indian courts from granting interim relief under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It observed that excluding the jurisdiction of Indian courts requires an express agreement between the parties.Justice M.G.S. Kamal observed, "Therefore, mere existence of an arbitration clause providing place of arbitration outside India itself cannot be construed as ''an...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Times Now Suit Against Network18, Sushant Sinha Over 'Desh Ki Paatshala'

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice on a suit filed by Bennett Coleman and Company Limited, which runs the Times Now Navbharat news channel, against Network18 Media and Investments Limited and journalist Sushant Sinha, alleging copyright and trademark infringement over the show 'Desh Ki Paatshala.'Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani declined to pass an ad-interim injunction at this stage. Observing that the defendants had entered an appearance on caveat, the court said they were entitled to...