Universal City Studios Productions ... vs Playimdb.Com & Ors on 8 May, 2026

[Cites 8, Cited by 0]

Delhi High Court - Orders

Universal City Studios Productions ... vs Playimdb.Com & Ors on 8 May, 2026

Bench: Tushar Rao Gedela

              $~25
              *         IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
              +         CS(COMM) 492/2026

                        UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS PRODUCTIONS LLLP .....Plaintiff
                                     Through: Mr.Saikrishna Rajgopal, Mr. Siddharth
                                               Chopra, Ms. Suhasini Raina, Ms. Mehr
                                               Sidhu, Mr. Raghav Goyal, Mr. Affain
                                               Moin and Mr. Aditya Thakur,
                                               Advocates.

                                                      versus

                        PLAYIMDB.COM & ORS.                                                  .....Defendants
                                    Through:                              Mr. Satya Ranjan Swain, CGSC
                                                                          alongwith Mr. Naveen, GP for D-22
                                                                          and 23.
                        CORAM:
                        HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TUSHAR RAO GEDELA
                                      ORDER

% 08.05.2026 I.A. 12951/2026 (Additional Documents)

1. The present application has been filed on behalf of the plaintiff under Order XI Rule 1(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as 'CPC') as applicable to commercial suits under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as 'CC Act') seeking leave to place on record additional documents.

2. The plaintiff is permitted to file additional documents in accordance with the provisions of the CC Act and the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018.

3. Accordingly, the application stands disposed of. I.A. 12949/2026 (Pre-Institution Mediation)

4. This is an application filed by the plaintiff seeking exemption from instituting pre-litigation Mediation under Section 12A of the CC Act.

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 1 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

5. As the present matter contemplates urgent interim relief, in light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Yamini Manohar vs. T.K.D. Keerthi:

(2024) 5 SCC 815, exemption from the requirement of pre-institution Mediation is granted.

6. The application stands disposed of.

I.A. 12950/2026 (Exemption from issuing advance notice to D-22 and D-

23.)

7. This is an application filed by the plaintiff under Section 80 of CPC seeking exemption from advance service to the defendant no.22/Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the defendant no.23/The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).

8. Since Mr. Satya Ranjan Swain, learned CGSC, has entered appearance on behalf of the defendant no.22/Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the defendant no.23/The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), the application is rendered infructuous.

9. The application is disposed of.

I.A. 12948/2026 (Order XXXIX Rules 1 & 2, CPC)

10. Present application has been filed on behalf of the plaintiff under Order XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 of CPC, 1908 seeking ex-parte ad-interim injunction against the defendants.

11. Plaintiff claims that it is a company incorporated in California, United States of America. Plaintiff is an established entertainment company known for producing acclaimed films like "Straight Outta Compton" and "The Secret Life of Pets" and has earned international awards such as "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards 2001 for "A Beautiful Mind" as well as for "Oppenheimer" at the Academy Awards 2023.

12. Plaintiff claims that its cinematograph films, whether first published in India or being foreign works on account of having been first published outside CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 2 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07 the territory of India, are protected as "works" under the Act. Plaintiff has all the rights granted under Section 14(d) of the Copyright Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") in such cinematograph films. Plaintiff is the author and/or first owner of the cinematography films like "Straight Outta Compton"

released in the year 2015, "The Purge: Election Year" released in the year 2016, "The Secret Life of Pets 2" released in the year 2019, "F9: The Fast Saga" released in the year 2021 and "Fast X" released in the year 2023 are entitled to protection under the Act. Therefore, plaintiff claims that any hosting, uploading, streaming, reproducing and distributing, making available to the public and/or communicating to the public the Original Content, or facilitating the same, without authorisation of the plaintiff, by any means on any platform including the internet and mobile and/or any other medium would be illegal and amount to violation of plaintiff's copyright under the Act.

13. Plaintiff claims that IMDb is a legitimate website that functions as an online database of information relating to films, television series, podcasts, video games and other audio-visual works. IMDb is one of the world's most popular and authoritative sources of information on movies, television shows and celebrities. On IMDb's official website, a user can access and gather information regarding the movie's cast, date of release, ratings, reviews, trailers, legitimate platforms on which the movie may be watched, etc.

14. Plaintiff claims that IMDb uses unique identifiers for each entity referenced in its database. IMDb identifiers ordinarily consist of two letters, which signify the type of entity being identified, followed by a sequence of at least seven numbers that uniquely identify the specific entity. These identifiers are also visible in IMDb title page Uniform Resource Locator ("URLs"). For example, the title page URL for the movie "Fast X (2023)" is https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433140/?ref_=fn_t_1, which contains the Title CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 3 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

15. However, the plaintiff claims that the modus operandi employed by the defendant instructs the user to access IMDb's official website (www.imdb.com) and search for any film and/or series. Upon selecting the relevant search result, IMDb would direct the user to a title-specific webpage with a unique URL. Such a URL would contain IMDb's domain name, i.e. www.imdb.com, along with the unique IMDb Title ID assigned to that film. For example, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433140/?ref_=fn_t_1 is the IMDb title-page URL for the movie "Fast X (2023)" and contains the Title ID tt5433140. The same as enumerated in para 14 of the plaint are extracted hereunder:

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 4 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07 Thereafter, the user then manually inserts the word "play" before "imdb" in the URL, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433140/?ref_=fn_t_1 resulting in the new URL https://www.playimdb.com/title/tt5433140/?ref_=fn_t_1. Upon accessing the said new URL, the user is no longer within IMDb's official ecosystem; rather, the user's browser visits a separate rogue domain, i.e. defendant no.1's domain playimdb.com, which thereafter redirects the user to defendant no.2's domain streamimdb.ru, where the unauthorised stream of the movie "Fast X (2023)" is made available. The same as enumerated in para 15 is extracted hereunder:

The streamimdb.ru page appears to operate as a wrapper around an embedded rogue video player, which may source content from a pirate video library, cyberlocker, file-hosting server, content-deliverynetwork- style storage host or another rotating streaming domain. The embedded player then loads the content and makes it available for streaming. The same is extracted hereunder as enumerated in para 16 of the plaint:

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 5 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

16. Plaintiff claims that defendant nos.1 and 2 conduct their illegal activities through defendant no.1's homepage (https://playimdb.com) in the aforesaid manner. On the said homepage, Defendant No. 1 provides steps under the heading "How to Use PlayIMDb," thereby instructing users on how to access infringing streams. The said process is detailed in para 17 of the plaint and the same is extracted hereunder:

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 6 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

17. Plaintiff further claims that defendant nos.1 and 2, apart from acting as a wrapper around an embedded rogue video player, also functions as an ordinary rogue streaming website. It is alleged to be a vehicle of infringement and is primarily and predominantly engaged in the dissemination of unauthorised copies of copyright protected content by uploading, hosting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public and/or communicating to the public infringing content, or facilitating the same. Users can easily access unauthorised copies of copyright protected content directly from defendant No. 2's website without the use of IMDb's Title ID. The same as enumerated in para 19 of the plaint are extracted hereunder:

18. Plaintiff further claims that defendant nos.1 and 2 (Playimdb and Streamimdb) deliberately use the word "IMDb" as part of their domain names, as their user flow depends on borrowing IMDb's recognition and URL structure. The user first has to locate the legitimate IMDb title page and then CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 7 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07 change the domain name while retaining the same IMDb Title ID, thereby making the change in the URL appear to be a natural extension of IMDb rather than a separate and unaffiliated service. The choice of names by defendant nos.1 and 2 (Playimdb and Streamimdb), suggests an attempt to imply that IMDb content can be played or streamed through them, even though IMDb itself is primarily a title information database and only directs users to authorised content-playing/viewing platforms.

19. Plaintiff claims that defendant nos.3 to 6 operate in a manner similar to defendant Nos. 1 and 2, by converting an IMDb Title ID into access to an embedded video stream through backend source resolution. The functionality of defendant Nos. 3 to 6 is similar inter se, as they act as embed/API player services.

20. Plaintiff claims that the defendants' rogue websites identified in the present suit are specifically designed and engaged in widespread and deliberate copyright infringement by enabling, facilitating, aiding, abetting, and providing tools for unauthorized streaming, storage and distribution of copyrighted works, including that of the plaintiff, from various third-party file

-hosting servers. These activities are carried out without the permission, license and/or authorization of the copyright owners, including the Plaintiff. Rogue defendants permit users to stream and make available to the public, plaintiff's copyrighted work outside the licensed streaming platforms.

21. Predicated on the above, plaintiff seeks an ex-parte ad-interim injunction and other reliefs in its favour and against the defendants.

22. Having considered the submissions made by Mr.Saikrishna Rajagopal, the learned counsel for the plaintiff and perusing the pleadings and the documents on record, this Court is of the opinion that an ex-parte ad-interim injunction would be in order.

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 8 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

23. This court prima facie finds that the defendants violate the plaintiff's copyright by operating rogue websites specifically designed to enable unauthorized access to the plaintiff's protected cinematograph films, including titles such as Fast X, F9: The Fast Saga, and The Secret Life of Pets 2, without any permission, license, or authorization. Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 (playimdb.com and streamimdb.ru) exploit IMDb's legitimate URL structure by instructing users to simply insert the word "play" before "imdb" in an IMDb title page URL, thereby redirecting users from the legitimate platform to a rogue domain that then streams the plaintiff's copyrighted content through an embedded unauthorized video player sourcing from pirate libraries or cyberlockers. Defendant Nos. 3 to 6 operate similarly as embed/API player services, converting IMDb Title IDs into access to embedded unauthorized video streams. Collectively, this Court prima facie finds that all the defendant websites are engaged in hosting, uploading, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public, and communicating to the public the plaintiff's original content, acts that are the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under Section 14(d) of the Copyright Act, 1957, thereby directly infringing those rights, causing irreparable harm to the plaintiff's revenue streams and undermining the substantial investment made in producing the original content.

24. Having considered the averments made in the plaint, the documents placed on record and the submissions advanced on behalf of the plaintiff, this Court is of the prima facie view that the defendants' impugned websites constitute rogue online platforms deliberately structured to facilitate large- scale copyright infringement. The material on record demonstrates that the defendants have devised a mechanism whereby users are redirected from legitimate IMDb title pages to unauthorized streaming interfaces merely by altering the domain structure while retaining the same IMDb Title ID. Such CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 9 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07 conduct, coupled with the use of domain names incorporating the expression "IMDb", prima facie reflects dishonest adoption intended to exploit the goodwill and recognition associated with IMDb and to induce users into accessing infringing streams under the guise of legitimacy. The plaintiff has further established prima facie ownership and exclusive rights in several cinematograph films, including Fast X, F9: The Fast Saga and The Secret Life of Pets 2, protection whereof is recognized under the Copyright Act, 1957.

25. This Court is also satisfied that the activities attributed to the defendants amount, prima facie, to unauthorized hosting, streaming, reproduction, communication and making available of copyrighted content to the public in violation of Sections 14 and 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The pleadings indicate that the defendants are not passive intermediaries but are actively facilitating infringement through embedded players, redirect mechanisms, backend source resolution systems and instructional material guiding users on how to access pirated content. The very architecture of the impugned websites appears to have been designed predominantly for dissemination of infringing content and circumvention of legitimate distribution channels. In such circumstances, the balance of convenience clearly lies in favour of the plaintiff, as continued operation of the impugned websites would result in persistent and irreparable injury to the plaintiff's statutory and commercial rights, including loss of revenue, dilution of exclusive exploitation rights and uncontrolled circulation of pirated copies, none of which can be adequately compensated in monetary terms at a later stage.

26. Accordingly, the following directions are passed:

a. The defendant nos.1 to 6 and any such other mirror/redirect/alphanumeric website which appears to be associated with any of the rogue defendants, either based on its name, branding, CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 10 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07 the identity of its operator, or source of the content or discovered to provide additional means of accessing the rogue defendants to have been engaged in infringing the plaintiff's exclusive rights and copyrights in the original content specified in the suit, its owners, partners, proprietors, officers, servants, employees, and all others in capacity of principal or agent acting for and on their behalf, or anyone claiming through, by or under it, are restrained from, in any manner, hosting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public and/or communicating to the public, or facilitating the same on their websites, through the internet in any manner whatsoever, in respect of the original content specified in the suit in which the plaintiff has copyright;

b. Defendant nos.7 to 12 i.e., the Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) or anyone claiming through, by or under it, are directed to lock/suspend and provide all details including but not limited to names of registrants of the said defendant nos.1 to 6 websites, including KYC, credit card, mobile number etc., to the plaintiff, identified in the instant suit, within 72 hours of receiving a copy of this Order. Specific DNRs for each website are disclosed in Annexure-A appended to this Order; c. Defendant nos.13 to 21/ISPs or agent acting for and on their behalf, or anyone claiming through, by or under it, are directed to block access to the defendant nos.1 to 20 websites as identified by plaintiff in the instant suit, within 72 hours of receiving a copy of this Order. The details for the same are identified in Annexure-B appended to this Order;

d. Defendant no.22/DoT and defendant no.23/MEITY are directed to issue a notification calling upon the various ISPs registered under it to block access to the various infringing websites identified by the CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 11 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

27. If any further websites are discovered by the plaintiff which are found to be unauthorisedly streaming, communicating, hosting or making the original content of the plaintiff, in which it has exclusive copyrights, during the pendency of the suit, the plaintiff is at liberty to communicate the details of such websites, including their domain names and URLs to defendant nos.7 to 12/Domain Name Registrars and defendant nos.13 to 21/Internet Service Providers. Upon receiving such intimation from the plaintiff, alongwith supporting evidence, defendant nos.7 to 12/DNRs and defendant nos.13 to 21/ISPs are directed to forthwith lock or suspend the domain name registrations of such newly discovered infringing websites. In case of any impediment, defendant nos.7 to 12/DNRs and defendant nos.12 to 21/ISPs are at liberty to intimate the plaintiff who is at liberty to approach this Court for further orders.

28. For any further infringing websites discovered by the plaintiff, which are found to be offering or dealing in the plaintiff's original content, the plaintiff shall be at liberty to approach the learned Joint Registrar (Judicial) by filing an appropriate application under Order I Rule 10, CPC for impleadment of such infringers.

29. For extension of the present ex-parte ad-interim injunction against such newly discovered infringers, the plaintiff shall also be at liberty to approach this Court in accordance with law.

30. If any website, which is not primarily an infringing website, is blocked in pursuance of this Order, it is permitted to approach the Court by giving an undertaking that it does not intend to do any illegal dissemination of the content over which the plaintiff has copyright and the Court would consider modifying the injunction if the facts and circumstances so warrant.

31. Issue notice.

CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 12 of 17

This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

32. Let a reply to this application be filed by the defendant within four weeks from service. Rejoinder, thereto, if any, be filed within two weeks thereafter.

33. Compliance of Order XXXIX Rule 3 of CPC shall be done within ten days from date.

CS(COMM) 492/2026

34. Let the plaint be registered as a suit.

35. Issue Summons.

36. Summons accepted Mr. Satya Ranjan Swain, learned CGSC on behalf of the defendant no.22 and 23.

37. Upon filing of the process fee, issue summons of the suit to the defendants through all permissible modes.

38. The summons shall state that the Written Statement shall be filed by the defendant within 30 days from the date of the receipt of summons. Alongwith the Written Statement, the defendants shall also file Affidavit of Admission/Denial of the documents of the plaintiff, without which the Written Statement shall not be taken on record.

39. Liberty is granted to the plaintiff to file Replication, if any, within 30 days from the receipt of the Written Statement. Along with the Replication filed by the plaintiff, an Affidavit of Admission/Denial of the documents of defendants be filed by the plaintiff, without which the Replication shall not be taken on record.

40. In case any party is placing reliance on a document, which is not in their power and possession, its details and source shall be mentioned in the list of reliance, which shall also be filed with the pleadings.

41. If any of the parties wish to seek inspection of any documents, the same shall be sought and given within the prescribed timelines.

42. List before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on 05.08.2026 for completion CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 13 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

43. List before the Court on 14.10.2026.

TUSHAR RAO GEDELA, J MAY 8, 2026 rl CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 14 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

1. NameSilo, LLC vidsrc.icu

2. Namecheap, Inc. vidsrc.vip godriveplayer.com moviesapi.club

3. Immaterialism Limited vidsrc.me streamimdb.me

4. Tucows Domains Inc. playimdb.com www.playimdb.com vidsrc.stream vidsrc.xyz vidsrc.net

5. Tonic Registry vidsrc.to moviesapi.to

6. R01-RU streamimdb.ru vidsrcme.ru vsembed.ru vidrock.ru vidapi.ru CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 15 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

1. playimdb.com https://playimdb.com 172.67.197.179 172.67.197.179

2. www.playimdb.com https://www.playimdb.com 104.21.92.203 Defendant No. 2

3. streamimdb.ru https://streamimdb.ru 104.21.56.98 Defendant No. 3 172.67.210.249

4. vidsrcme.ru https://vidsrcme.ru 104.21.61.140

5. vidsrc.icu https://vidsrc.icu 104.21.47.213

6. vidsrc.to https://vidsrc.to 104.21.70.154 104.21.92.109

7. vsembed.ru https://vsembed.ru 172.67.192.20 172.67.141.119

8. vidrock.ru https://vidrock.ru 104.21.27.56

9. vidsrc.vip https://vidsrc.vip 172.67.167.191 CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 16 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

10. vidsrc.stream https://vidsrc.stream 104.21.47.247 172.67.156.161

11. vidsrc.me https://vidsrc.me 104.21.13.153 172.67.136.195

12. vidsrc.xyz https://vidsrc.xyz 104.21.54.77 104.21.22.90

13. vidsrc.net https://vidsrc.net 172.67.203.197 104.21.87.97

14. streamimdb.me https://streamimdb.me 172.67.169.49 Defendant No. 4

15. vidapi.ru https://vidapi.ru 104.21.53.81 Defendant No. 5

16. godriveplayer.com https://godriveplayer.com 107.161.175.26 Defendant No. 6 104.21.82.57

17. moviesapi.to https://moviesapi.to 172.67.153.206

18. moviesapi.club https://moviesapi.club 104.21.90.56 CS(COMM) 492/2026 Page 17 of 17 This is a digitally signed order.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 11/05/2026 at 21:40:07

Unlock Advanced Research with PRISMAI

Delhi High Court - Orders