Delhi High Court - Orders
Universal City Studios Llc & Ors vs Fzmovies.Net & Ors on 11 April, 2023
Author: Amit Bansal
Bench: Amit Bansal
$~21
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 202/2023
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLC &
ORS. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr.Saikrishna Rajagopal, Mr.Sidharth
Chopra, Ms.Suhasini Raina, Ms.R.
Ramya, Mr.Sanidhya Rao, Ms. Mehr
Sidhu and Mr.Raghav Goyal,
Advocates.
versus
FZMOVIES.NET & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: None.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT BANSAL
ORDER
% 11.04.2023 I.A. 6561/2023 (for exemption)
1. Subject to the plaintiffs filing original, certified and legible copies of any document on which the plaintiffs may seek to place reliance within four weeks from today, exemption is granted for the present.
2. The application stands disposed of. I.A. 6562/2023 (under Section 80 CPC for exemption from serving advance notice)
3. The present application has been filed on behalf of the plaintiffs' seeking exemption from advance service to the defendants no. 50 (DOT) and 51 (MEITY) under Section 80 of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC).
4. In view of the urgent ex parte relief sought, the plaintiffs are granted Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 1Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 exemption from requirement of issuing notice to the defendants no. 50 and 51 under Section 80 of CPC.
5. The application stands disposed of. CS(COMM) 202/2023
6. Let the plaint be registered as a suit.
7. Issue summons.
8. Summons be issued to the defendants through all modes. The summons shall state that the written statement(s) shall be filed by the defendants within thirty days from the date of the receipt of summons. Along with the written statement(s), the defendants shall also file an affidavit of admission/denial of the documents of the plaintiffs, without which the written statement(s) shall not be taken on record.
9. Liberty is given to the plaintiffs to file replication(s), if any, within thirty days from the receipt of the written statement(s). Along with the replication(s) filed by the plaintiffs, an affidavit of admission/denial of the documents of the defendants, be filed by the plaintiffs.
10. The parties shall file all original documents in support of their respective claims along with their respective pleadings. In case parties are placing reliance on a document, which is not in their power and possession, its detail and source shall be mentioned in the list of reliance, which shall be also filed with the pleadings.
11. If any of the parties wish to seek inspection of any documents, the same shall be sought and given within the timelines.
12. List before the Joint Registrar on 20th July, 2023 for completion of service and pleadings.
13. List before the Court on 29th August, 2023.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSALCS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 2Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 I.A. 6560/2023 (O-XXXIX R-1 & 2 of CPC)
14. The present suit has been filed for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts and damages for the infringement of exclusive rights in the plaintiffs' original content/work, which is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957, against defendants no. 1-40 with additional domains, that are rogue websites and substantially indulge in online piracy by making original content available for download and otherwise providing access to infringing and illegal content.
15. The plaintiffs no. 1-6, i.e., Universal City Studios LLC.; Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.; Columbia Picture Industries, Inc.; Netflix Studios, LLC.; Paramount Pictures Corporation and Disney Enterprises, Inc. are leading entertainment companies globally known for producing films such as Mulan, Lego Batman, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory etc. The plaintiffs have exclusive rights to communicate their content to the public.
16. It is contended that defendants no. 1 to 40, ("defendant websites") are online locations which enable the use of defendant websites' services, without any authorisation or license from the plaintiffs, to (a) view (by a process known as streaming/ downloading) cinematograph films, motion pictures, television programs or other audio-visual content, on devices connected to the Internet; (b) cause copies of those cinematograph films to be downloaded onto the memory of their devices for watching later or enabling others to watch or further copy those cinematograph film, and/or
(c) identify other online locations including (by a process known as "linking"), which enable those users to engage in the activities set out in (a) or (b). An illustrative list of illegal content made available by the defendant Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 3Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 websites has been provided in paragraph 30 of the plaint.
17. In order to protect and enforce their exclusive rights, the plaintiffs investigated and monitored the defendants' websites and gathered evidence of their infringing activities, which has been filed along with the suit. Evidence collected by the investigator also shows that the operators of the defendant websites are using known "pirate branding" to signal to users that the defendant websites are merely new iterations of sites that have been blocked earlier. Therefore, the defendant websites being in the form of new iterations and that the new iterations almost invariably have the same functionality and purpose as the earlier blocked sites.
18. It is further contended that despite the legal notice calling upon the concerned defendants to cease from engaging in their infringing activities, they continue to infringe the rights in the plaintiffs' original content. It is also contended that access to many of defendants' websites has been previously disabled in other jurisdictions, as elaborated in paragraph 37 of the plaint.
19. In light of the above, it is contended that the defendants nos. 1 to 40 are liable for infringement of the plaintiffs' copyright works under Section 51(a)(ii), Section 51(b) and Section 51(a)(i) of the Act, for making a copy of the original content, including storing of it in any medium by electronic or other means and communicating the original content to the public the hosting, streaming, reproducing, distributing, making available to the public, and/or communicating to the public of the original content for streaming and downloading, or facilitating the same, without authorization of the plaintiffs. In support of the aforesaid contention, reliance is placed on the decision of this court in CS(COMM) 724 of 2017 dated 10th April, 2019 titled UTV Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 4Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 Software Communication Ltd. &Anr. v. 1337x.to and Ors.
20. It is further contended by the plaintiffs' counsel that majority of the defendants no. 1-40's websites are anonymous in nature and the information provided in the public domain regarding the owners of the website is either incomplete, incorrect and/or protected behind a veil of secrecy. These websites hide behind domain privacy services offered by various domain name Registrars, which enable a website owner to hide behind a veil and not disclose any contact details publicly, to protect his privacy.
21. In order to overcome this, the plaintiffs have arrayed various internet and telecom services providers (ISPs) as the defendants no. 41-49 (hereinafter "the said ISPs"), DoT as the defendant no. 50, MEITY as the defendant no. 51 in the present suit to ensure the effective implementation of orders passed by this Court.
22. Issue notice
23. Notice be issued to the defendants through all modes.
24. Reply (ies) be filed within four weeks.
25. Rejoinder(s) thereto, if any, be filed within two weeks thereafter.
26. In view of the averments noted hereinabove and in view of the judgment passed in UTV Software Communication Ltd. (supra), this Court is of the opinion that a prima facie case is made out in favour of the plaintiffs. Balance of convenience is also in favour of the plaintiffs. Further, irreparable harm or injury would be caused to the plaintiffs if an interim injunction order is not passed.
27. Accordingly, the defendants no. 1 to 40 (and any such other mirror/redirect/alphanumeric website which appears to be associated with any of the defendant websites based on its name, branding or the identity of Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 5Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 its operator, or discovered to provide additional means of accessing, the defendant websites, and other domains/domain along with their sub domains and subdirectories, owners/website operators/entities which are discovered to have been engaging in infringing the plaintiffs' exclusive rights), their owners, partners, proprietors, officers, servants, employees, and all others in capacity of principals or agents, acting for and on their behalf, or anyone claiming through, by or under them are hereby 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, any cinematograph work/content/programme/show in relation to which plaintiffs have a copyright.
28. The defendants no. 41 to 49 shall ensure compliance with this order by blocking defendants no. 1 to 40 websites, their URLs and the respective IP addresses as filed along with the suit (Pg 26- 33 - Vol 1) (also Annexed herewith as Document -2).
29. The defendants no. 50 and 51 are further directed to take immediate steps and issue requisite notifications within five working days, calling upon various internet and telecom service providers registered under them to block the aforementioned websites identified by the plaintiffs.
30. Further, as held by this court in UTV Software Communication Ltd. (supra), in order for this court to be freed from constant monitoring and adjudicating the issues of mirror/redirect/alphanumeric websites, it is directed that as and when plaintiffs file an application under Order I Rule 10 of the CPC for impleadment of such websites, the plaintiffs shall file an affidavit confirming that the newly impleaded website is Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 6Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 mirror/redirect/alphanumeric website, which appears to be associated with any of the defendant websites based on its name, branding or the identity of its operator, or has been discovered to provide additional means of accessing the defendant websites and other domains/domain along with their subdomains and subdirectories, owners/website operators/entities, which are discovered to have been engaging in infringing the plaintiffs' exclusive rights, with sufficient supporting evidence. Such application shall be listed before the Joint Registrar, who on being satisfied with the material placed on record, shall issue appropriate directions to the ISPs.
31. Compliance under Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the CPC be done within ten days from today.
32. List before the Joint Registrar on 20th July, 2023 for completion of service and pleadings.
33. List before the Court on 29th August, 2023.
AMIT BANSAL, J APRIL 11, 2023 sr Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 202/2023 Page 7Signing of 7 Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 26 LIST OF WEBSITES S.No. Domain Name URL IP Address Defendant No. 1
1. fzmovies.net https://fzmovies.net 172.67.174.51 104.21.30.242 Defendant No. 2
2. 176.123.6.25 5gomovies.to https://5gomovies.to 176.123.6.25 5gomovies.ch https://5gomovies.ch 85.92.108.146 0gomovies.com http://0gomovies.com 85.92.108.146 0gomovies.st http://0gomovies.st 85.92.108.146 0gomovies.ru http://0gomovies.ru Defendant No. 3
3. 104.21.61.56 6movies.net https://www3.6movies.net 172.67.206.129 Defendant No. 4
4. 104.21.1.9 imaple.app https://imaple.app 172.67.151.185 Defendant No. 5
5. 45.158.22.182 37ou.com http://37ou.com 45.158.22.204 Defendant No. 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 27
6. 23.224.135.3 88hd.com https://88hd.com 23.224.135.4 23.225.30.100 88ys.cn http://88ys.cn Defendant No. 7
7. 104.21.21.104 123moviesite.one https://123moviesite.one 172.67.197.242 Defendant No. 8
8. 104.21.44.146 123series.io https://123series.io 172.67.200.200 Defendant No. 9
9. 104.21.80.243 1234movies.me https://1234movies.me 172.67.155.155 104.21.50.245 the123movies.cz https://the123movies.cz Defendant No. 10
10. 104.21.0.117 https://1337xx.st 1337xx.st 172.67.150.237 Defendant No. 11
11. 104.21.78.239 attacker.tv https://www1.attacker.tv 172.67.138.111 Defendant No. 12
12. 104.21.93.73 b-bmovies.com https://b-bmovies.com 172.67.206.104 Defendant No. 13
13. 104.21.62.196 dandanzan.com https://dandanzan.com 172.67.138.192 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 28 104.21.13.239 dandanzan.tv https://dandanzan.tv 172.67.133.122 https://www.dandanzan10.t 104.21.68.183 dandanzan10.top op 172.67.197.208 Defendant No. 14
14. 104.26.6.224 duboku.io https://u.duboku.io 104.26.7.224 104.21.43.49 duboku.one https://duboku.one 172.67.220.11 104.21.39.82 duboku.ru https://duboku.ru 172.67.143.203 104.26.6.9 duboku.tv https://www.duboku.tv 104.26.7.9 104.21.54.168 dubokutv.net https://dubokutv.net 172.67.140.173 Defendant No. 15
15. 172.67.189.78 filmyfly.co https://filmyfly.co 104.21.81.113 104.21.63.243 filmy4wap.xyz http://filmy4wap.xyz 172.67.173.94 Defendant No. 16
16. 104.21.21.66 flixhd.cc https://flixhd.cc 172.67.196.206 Defendant No. 17
17. 104.21.233.247 fmovies.hn https://www.fmovies.hn 104.21.233.248 Defendant No. 18 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 29
18. 104.21.51.36 gimytv.io https://gimytv.io 172.67.220.122 104.21.1.139 gimytv.in http://gimytv.in 172.67.129.103 Defendant No. 19
19. 172.67.38.12 iyf.tv https://new.iyf.tv 104.22.44.102 104.26.14.216 flyv.tv http://flyv.tv 104.26.15.216 Defendant No. 20
20. 172.67.190.116 kisskh.me https://kisskh.me 104.21.19.231 Defendant No. 21
21. https://www2.movieorca.co 104.21.72.191 movieorca.com m 172.67.154.137 Defendant No. 22
22. 104.22.2.179 mudvod.tv https://mudvod.tv 104.22.3.179 104.21.2.17 nivod3.tv https://www.nivod3.tv 172.67.128.148 104.22.36.208 nivod.tv https://nivod.tv 104.22.37.208 104.22.20.119 nbys1.tv http://nbys1.tv 104.22.21.119 104.21.18.147 nivod2.tv https://www.nivod2.tv 172.67.182.88 mudvod1.tv http://mudvod1.tv 104.22.40.104 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 30 104.22.41.104 104.22.46.66 nbyy.tv http://nbyy.tv 104.22.47.66 104.21.60.22 nivodi.tv https://www.nivodi.tv 172.67.187.187 Defendant No. 23
23. 104.21.67.39 proxyninja.org https://proxyninja.org 172.67.211.246 Defendant No. 24
24. 172.67.179.22 nunuyy5.org https://nunuyy5.org 104.21.35.196 104.21.33.211 nunuyy1.org http://nunuyy1.org 172.67.166.218 104.21.79.141 nunuyy2.org http://nunuyy2.org 172.67.146.14 172.64.160.17 nunuyy3.org http://nunuyy3.org 172.64.161.17 Defendant No. 25
25. 51.81.155.238 olevod.com https://www.olevod.com 51.81.155.240 104.21.20.61 olevod.tv https://olevod.tv 172.67.191.211 Defendant No. 26
26. https://ww24.pencurimovies 172.67.136.6 pencurimovies.gives .gives 104.21.54.61 104.21.67.101 movisubmalay.today http://movisubmalay.today 172.67.220.174 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 31 104.21.10.184 pencurimovies.site http://pencurimovies.site 172.67.190.201 Defendant No. 27
27. 104.21.68.126 qkan8.com https://qkan8.com 172.67.195.136 Defendant No. 28
28. 172.67.216.4 rarbggo.to https://www1.rarbggo.to 104.21.78.43 Defendant No. 29
29. 104.26.12.240 scene-rls.net http://scene-rls.net 104.26.13.240 172.67.69.133 Defendant No. 30
30. 104.21.4.140 shancaowu.com https://shancaowu.com 172.67.154.30 Defendant No. 31
31. 104.26.0.56 tangrenjie.tv https://www.tangrenjie.tv 104.26.1.56 172.67.72.242 Defendant No. 32
32. 172.67.131.9 tfpdl.se https://tfpdl.se 104.21.9.209 Defendant No. 33
33. 104.21.44.185 theflixer.tv https://theflixer.tv 172.67.202.155 Defendant No. 34
34. thepiratebay.party https://thepiratebay.party 104.31.16.6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 32 104.31.16.123 104.31.16.10 thepiratebay10.org https://thepiratebay10.org 104.31.16.119 104.31.16.7 thepiratebay0.org https://thepiratebay0.org 104.31.16.122 https://www.pirateproxy- 104.31.16.10 pirateproxy-bay.com bay.com 104.31.16.119 Defendant No. 35
35. 104.21.78.69 gowatchseries.ch https://gowatchseries.ch 172.67.217.117 Defendant No. 36
36. 104.21.84.240 ttsp.tv https://ttsp.tv 172.67.198.229 Defendant No. 37
37. watchmoviesonlinepk.c https://wwv12.watchmovies 104.21.29.219 om onlinepk/com 172.67.149.213 https://www.movies-
movies-watch.com.pk 104.26.8.21 watch.com.pk 104.26.9.21, Defendant No. 38
38. 104.21.95.85 watchseries.id https://watchseries.id 172.67.143.217 Defendant No. 39
39. 104.21.86.101 xiaoheimi.net https://xiaoheimi.net 172.67.217.212 Defendant No. 40
40. yts.do https://yts.do 104.21.1.207 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48 33 172.67.129.235 172.67.207.62 yts-mx.co https://yts-mx.co 104.21.66.203 172.67.139.10 yts.rocks http://yts.rocks 104.21.40.217 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL Signing Date:12.04.2023 15:40:48