The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to American film production company Universal Pictures in a case involving large-scale online piracy through rogue websites misusing the name of movie database IMDb.
Universal Studios informed the court that several websites, including 'PlayIMDb' and 'StreamIMDb,' were illegally uploading and streaming its films such as Fast X, F9 and The Secret Life of Pets 2 without authorisation. The studio argued that while IMDb itself is a legitimate platform, rogue operators were exploiting its name to distribute pirated content.
The Court noted that these websites were redirecting users from IMDb-related pages to illegal streaming platforms hosting Hollywood movies owned by Universal Studios. Observing a prima facie case of copyright infringement, the Court restrained the rogue entities from continuing such activities.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the injunction order on 08 May, directing an immediate halt to the unauthorised streaming and misuse of IMDb’s name.
Universal Pictures told the Court that the rogue websites were facilitating pirated streaming of movies by manipulating and misusing IMDb URLs.
The Court observed that these illegal streaming platforms had created a system that redirected users from genuine IMDb movie pages to unauthorised websites hosting pirated content. It also noted that the operators had provided instructional material to help users access the illegal streams.
