Shubhi Rathore | Prabhat BandhulyaMandatory Injunction Issues Against Telegram Messenger By Bombay High Court For Having Infringing Links To Janhit Mein Jaari
The plaintiff was seeking ad-interim relief for the removal of links from the Telegram Messenger which is infringing its copyright and the assistance of police in executing it. The plaintiffs are the producers of the film “Janhit Mein Jaari” starring Nushratt Bharuccha and have filed a John Doe orders have been passed, namely; Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. v. Gujarat Telelink Pvt. Ltd. Suit against the respondent who has active links being circulated on its various chat groups. The plaintiffs allege that they are suffering huge losses in the theatres and moreover they would face further losses as no OTT platform would make a deal with them as they would not find subscribers as it is available for free. The plaintiffs' counsel relied upon two cases where John Doe orders have been passed, namely; Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. v. Gujarat Telelink Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. 2016 (Bom) 271 and Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. v. M/s Hathway Sonali Om Crystal Cable Pvt. Ltd. Anr. 2015 (Bom). The respondent stated that it has blocked all the links of the movie in the chat groups and will continue to block such infringing content. The Court held that a prima facie case is made out against the respondents and therefore mandatory injunction is passed against the respondents. Moreover, the police are also directed to assist the plaintiffs so that no further infringement takes place.
Case: Bhanushali Studios Ltd. & Ors V. Telegram Messenger LLP & Anr.