Delhi HC grants interim relief to Universal Pictures in movie piracy case

Delhi High Court piracy case has granted interim relief to Universal Pictures in a matter concerning large-scale online piracy carried out through rogue websites misusing the name of the movie database IMDb.

Universal Pictures informed the court that multiple websites, including “PlayIMDb” and “StreamIMDb,” were unlawfully uploading and streaming its films such as Fast X, F9 and The Secret Life of Pets 2 without permission. The studio contended that while IMDb is a legitimate platform, certain rogue operators were exploiting its name to circulate pirated content.

The Court observed that these websites were redirecting users from IMDb-linked pages to illegal streaming platforms hosting Hollywood titles owned by Universal Pictures.

Noting a prima facie case of copyright violation, the Court restrained the rogue entities from continuing such activities.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued the injunction order on May 8, directing an immediate stop to the unauthorised streaming and misuse of the IMDb name.

Universal Pictures further told the Court that these rogue websites were enabling pirated streaming of films by manipulating and misusing IMDb URLs.

The Court also observed that these illegal platforms had built a system that redirected users from genuine IMDb movie pages to unauthorised websites hosting pirated content, and noted that operators had even shared instructional guides to facilitate access to these illegal streams. Pitchonnet