Jawan Leaked Video Clips: DSK Legal successfully represented Red Chillies Entertainment in seeking injunctive relief

Jawan Leaked Video Clips: DSK Legal successfully represented Red Chillies Entertainment in seeking injunctive relief

The Delhi High Court on 25 April, 2023 restrained rogue websites, cable TV platforms, Direct to Home services as well as 'John Doe’ defendants from committing copyright infringement of the upcoming Shah Rukh Khan movie, Jawan which is scheduled to be released on 2nd June 2023.

The Delhi High Court passed the interim order dated in favor of Red Chillies Entertainment (“Plaintiff”) and against Mr. Ashok Kumar/ John Doe, Twitter INC, Youtube LLC, Google LLC, Reddit INC and 35 Ors (collectively the “Defendants”) granting interim reliefs against the Defendants.

Background of the case:

Recently the Plaintiff came across 2 video clips which are leaked in relation to the said Film (“Leaked Video Clips”). These Leaked Video Clips were making rounds of various social media platforms including those being run and operated by the aforesaid Defendants.

It is the Plaintiff’s case that these Leaked Video Clips are nothing but clear violation of copyright/intellectual property rights of Plaintiff which are causing damage and loss to the Plaintiff. The Leaked Video Clips together gave away the look of the actors in the Said Film, as well as the music, both of which are typically disclosed at strategic points in time as part of the carefully curated marketing strategy of a film. Also, certain photographs/stills were leaked by Defendants from the set of the said Film where film shooting was going on in studios/film set/closed doors.

The Plaintiff also reasonably apprehended that the rogue/non-compliant social media handles/web pages will be copying, reproducing, distributing, displaying online the Plaintiff’s copyright protected materials relating to the said Film including but not limited to still, clips, songs and other proprietary information in relation to the said Film through the intermediary Defendants.

The Plaintiff reasonably apprehended that such publication and unauthorized circulation of the Leaked Video Clips and said Film will jeopardize the promotion and exploitation rights of the Plaintiff in the said Film and as and when the said Film is released in theatres, similar acts of piracy relating to the entire Film would also commence and intermediaries / websites as described would again be utilized to illegally copy, record, download, reproduce, transmit and communicate the said copyright protected work to the general public.

The Defendants have not entered into any license agreement with the Plaintiff for communicating the Said Film and this amounts to infringement of Plaintiff’s copyright under Ss. 14(1) (d) read with Section 16 of Copyright Act, 1957.

In view of the aforesaid, the Plaintiff approached the Court praying that it is entitled to a restraining order from the Delhi High Court making the injunction orders applicable to the creators of such redirect / mirror / alphanumeric social media handles / website URLs etc. to restrain them from unauthorizedly re-broadcasting or streaming stills, clips, songs, unauthorized recordings and other proprietary information relating to the said Film “Jawan” or any part thereof by the Defendants on any mode or medium whatsoever.

In the said Suit, pending hearing and disposal of Suit, following interim/ad-interim reliefs were sought from the Court.

(a) A temporary injunction restraining the Defendants by themselves, their partners/ proprietor/ directors, heirs, representatives, successors in business, assigns, distributors, agents, servants or anyone

claiming through them from infringing the cinematographic film “Jawan” or any part thereof by copying, recording, reproducing or allowing camcording or allowing others to transmit, communicate or make available or distributing or duplicating or displaying or releasing or showing or uploading or downloading or exhibiting or playing and/or in any manner whatsoever from communicating stills, audio/video clips, songs, recordings or other proprietary information relating to the cinematographic film “Jawan” or any part thereof without a proper license from the Plaintiff or in any other manner which would violate / infringe the Plaintiff’s rights, including copyright, available to the Petitioner for the cinematographic film “Jawan” through different mediums including but not limited to CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc, VCD, cable TV, Direct to home services, internet services, multimedia messaging services, pen drives, hard drives, tapes, DAS, satellite, Conditional Access Systems or in any other medium/manner whatsoever;

(b) A mandatory injunction to Defendants No. 2 to 5 to forthwith block for access / take down all the infringing content described in Schedule A as well as Index ‘4’ to the Plaint including the Leaked Video Clips and any other and further copyright infringing content which is hosted/published directly or indirectly by any of them in the form of posts, messages, tweets and uploads containing stills, audio/video clips, songs, music, illegal recordings and other proprietary information related to the said Film “Jawan” or any part thereof similar to the identified Non-Compliant content on the social media platforms / hosting websites owned, run and/or operated by them immediately on receipt of details of such infringing websites/webpages in writing by the Plaintiff;

(c) A mandatory injunction directing the Defendants 6 to 40 by themselves, their partners/ proprietor/ directors, heirs, representatives, successors in business, assigns, distributors, agents, servants or anyone

claiming through them to block all websites/web pages and future websites (including their prefix and suffix) including those Non-Compliant websites mentioned in Schedule-B hosting content that relates to the Plaintiff’s copyright protected cinematographic film “Jawan” or any part thereof in any manner, thereby restraining the unauthorised copying, transmission, communication or making available, displaying or uploading or downloading or exhibiting or playing and/or in any manner communicating of such content in and /or through their services, immediately on receipt of details of such infringing websites/webpages in writing from the Plaintiffs.

The matter was argued extensively for seeking aforesaid ad-interim/interim reliefs. Accordingly, after hearing, the Delhi High Court passed the interim order in favor of Red Chillies Entertainment and against the Defendants granting aforesaid interim reliefs against the Defendants.

The next date of hearing is now scheduled on 25th July, 2023.

DSK Legal successfully advised, assisted and represented the Plaintiffs on their behalf before Delhi High Court against the Defendants.

The DSK Legal team comprised of Parag Khandhar, Partner and Chandrima Mitra, Partner. They were assisted by Advocate Krishan Kumar.

Sr. Counsel Rajshekhar Rao along with Counsel Nizamuddin Pasha were briefed in the matter.