Amitha Muraleedharan
The Delhi High court has ordered an injunction to unauthorize broadcasting of international test series from websites like www.b1.mylivecricket.biz and others by accepting the plea of Sony Pictures Network India Pvt Ltd.
The plea claimed Sony’s exclusive media right in the upcoming India Australia International Cricket Series, 2020.
Single Judge Bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher also issued summons and notice on the suit.
The court held that the defendant websites are, “restrained from broadcasting, telecasting to subscribers or otherwise through any means whatsoever the footage concerning the Matches, their clips, audios and videos whether wholly or in part including live-score updates, play-by-play and/or textual commentary via their websites, applications and/or any other digital platforms such as mobile, internet and radio delivery.”
Sony also included Internet Service Providers and Telecom Service Providers as parties to the suit to ensure the surety of injunction.
The court also instructed ISPs to block the website which does unauthorized broadcasting/ transmission of the match.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, and Nepal, were the countries in which Sony claimed the exclusive right of the license to broadcast and transmit the series and non-exclusive broadcasting licenses for Afghanistan.
Therefore, Sony also sought interim direction over Multi-System Operators (MSOs) and the Local Cable Operators (LCOs).