Websites Streaming Stranger Things, Squid Game, Friends Illegally To Be BLOCKED Within 72 Hours: Delhi High Court

In a major crackdown on online piracy, the Delhi High Court has ordered the blocking of several websites found to be illegally streaming popular films and television shows such as Stranger Things, Friends,

Squid Game, Batman, The Jungle Book and more. The ruling comes as a significant relief to global entertainment giants that have long flagged massive revenue losses due to unauthorised distribution of copyrighted content. The order was passed in the case Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc & Ors Vs animesugez.to & Ors.

Warner Bros, Netflix and others granted major relief

As per Bar and Bench, Justice Tejas Karia granted a dynamic+ injunction in favour of Warner Bros, Netflix, Apple, Disney and Crunchyroll, directing swift action against piracy platforms illegally hosting their content. The Court emphasised that copyrighted works deserve protection the moment they are created and allowed the plaintiffs to implead any mirror, redirect or alphanumeric variations of the websites named in the suit.Explaining the rationale behind the order, the Court stated, "To keep up with the hydra-headed nature of the infringement actions of such infringing domains / websites, this Court finds it fit to grant a ‘Dynamic+ injunction’ to protect the Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Works as soon as they are created, to ensure that no irreparable loss is caused to the owners of Copyrighted Works, as there is an imminent possibility of the Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Works being uploaded on Infringing Websites or their newer versions immediately thereafter," the Court said.

What is the entire piracy case?

The order was passed after Netflix, Warner Bros, Apple, Disney and Crunchyroll - members of the Motion Picture Association - approached the High Court. They submitted that they are global entertainment companies and rightful owners of copyrights in multiple films and series. Despite issuing repeated take-down notices, the piracy websites allegedly continued to host and distribute the copyrighted content, causing substantial financial losses.After examining the submissions, Justice Karia observed that the plaintiffs are legitimate copyright holders and that the infringing websites were streaming content in real time while also allowing users to download it illegally. The Court noted that such unauthorised infringement could result in serious financial damage to the content owners, making immediate judicial intervention necessary.Consequently, the High Court directed domain name registrars to lock and suspend the infringing websites within 72 hours and to provide the Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) details in a sealed cover. Additionally, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been instructed to block public access to the identified piracy websites within the same time frame.