DELHI HIGH COURT GRANTS AD-INTERIM RELIEF TO SONY PICTURES; ORDERS BLOCKING OF PIRACY WEBSITES STREAMING LIVE SPORTS
NEW DELHI: In a major enforcement boost for sports broadcasters, the Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favor of Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited. The Court ordered the immediate blocking and suspension of several rogue websites illegally streaming high-ticket cricket tournaments and sporting events over which the media giant holds exclusive broadcasting and communication rights.
The order was passed by a Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh in a commercial suit titled Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd. v. Cricfree & Ors.
Background and Submissions
The plaintiff, Sony Pictures, approached the High Court seeking urgent interim relief to protect its exclusive media rights for multiple upcoming and ongoing sporting events. Sony submitted that it operates nearly 29 channels across various genres—including SONY TEN, SONY SIX, and its digital streaming platform, Sony LIV.
The broadcaster pointed out that it possesses exclusive television and digital rights to commercially exploit marquee events, including the ongoing India Tour of England (Men's and Women's) 2026, the Pakistan Tour of England 2026, The Hundred 2026, upcoming Asia Cup tournaments, and the Asian Games 2026.
Sony argued that the defendant websites were routinely uploading and streaming unauthorized broadcasts of these live matches. It was contended that the platforms are inherently "rogue" in nature, lacking verifiable ownership records, and hiding behind domain privacy services to mask the identities of their operators.
Court’s Analysis and Observations
Observing the matter, Justice Jyoti Singh noted that live sporting events carry immense commercial value, which dissipates entirely the moment the broadcast ends. The Bench emphasized the urgency of judicial intervention, pointing out that both the Men's and Women's India Tours of England were underway and scheduled to conclude within July.
Finding a clear prima facie case, the Court observed:
"There is no gain saying that piracy must be curbed and needs to be dealt with a heavy hand."
The Court determined that allowing unauthorized streams to persist would cause irreparable financial injury and structural damage to the lawful copyright holder.
Key Directives Issued by the Court
To comprehensively curtail online copyright infringement, the High Court issued a multi-pronged directive:
- Injunction against Defendants: The identified rogue websites (including domains such as cricfree.cyou, thegamesurf.com, topstream.pro, and crichd.top) are restrained from communicating, hosting, streaming, or making available any part of the scheduled sporting events.
- Mandate to Domain Name Registrars (DNRs): DNRs have been directed to block the offending domains and disclose available Know Your Customer (KYC) details, mobile numbers, and email addresses of the operators to the court in a password-protected document.
- ISP and Governmental Enforcement: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been ordered to block public access to these websites. Simultaneously, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have been directed to issue necessary blocking orders.
Extension of Dynamic Injunction
Recognizing the adaptive nature of digital piracy, where operators frequently spawn mirror or alphanumeric fallback sites to bypass domain blocks, the High Court granted Sony a dynamic injunction. This mechanism allows the plaintiff to directly approach the court's Joint Registrar during the currency of the sporting events to extend the blocking mandates to newly identified infringing URLs without filing entirely fresh suits.
The plaintiff was represented by a legal team from Saikrishna & Associates, including Advocates Siddharth Chopra, Yatinder Garg, Akshay Maloo, Ishi Singh, Manish Singh, and Shudhata.
Discription: It outlines how the Court stepped in to grant urgent, ex-parte ad-interim relief to Sony Pictures Networks India to stop rogue websites from illegally streaming major cricket tournaments, including the Men's and Women's India Tours of England.
The report breaks down Sony's arguments regarding the irreparable financial damage caused by digital piracy, since live sports lose their commercial value the moment the broadcast ends. It details the multi-pronged enforcement directives issued to Domain Name Registrars, Internet Service Providers, and government ministries to block the offending domains and unmask the operators. Finally, it highlights the court's usage of a "dynamic injunction," a vital legal mechanism that allows Sony to fast-track the blocking of any new mirror or alphanumeric pirate websites that pop up while the tournaments are still ongoing.
