Delhi HC restrains unauthorised broadcast of Bigg Boss 17

The Delhi High Court has taken action to prevent the unauthorized streaming of Bigg Boss, a popular reality television show now in its 17th season. According to reports from the news agency PTI, the court has issued an order to restrict the unlawful distribution of the show's content, stating that the proliferation of websites illegally broadcasting the program poses a significant piracy threat. This piracy, the court emphasized, could result in substantial financial losses for the show's producers, the plaintiff in this case.

During the court proceedings, the plaintiff explained that they broadcast the Bigg Boss show in multiple formats, including Hindi, on their television channels and OTT platform. However, they raised concerns about several websites using "Bigg Boss" in their domain names to illegally and without proper licensing stream the program, a practice that poses a financial threat to their business.

"Accordingly, the defendant nos. 1 to 5 are restrained from broadcasting, telecasting, streaming, retransmitting and hosting any episode of the Bigg Boss programme, which have already been telecast or which are likely to be telecast in the near future," said Justice Prathiba M Singh in a recent interim order.

"If any further websites with the name Bigg Boss are found by the plaintiff or any other websites which are telecasting



illegally the programmes of the plaintiff, an application shall be filed impleading these websites. The present injunction shall accordingly extend to those websites as well," the judge added.

The court observed that the plaintiff had made out a prima facie case for ex-parte injunction and it would suffer irreparable loss if the offending websites are not restrained.  "If such mushrooming of websites, which also use the name Bigg Boss, is permitted, it would boost piracy and unauthorised dissemination, causing heavy losses to the plaintiff, which may have obtained the rights in the said event or programme after making considerable investment," said the court as it directed the authorities concerned to block the infringing websites.

The court further noted that the plaintiff's OTT platform, JioCinema, is a subscription-based platform and if the illegal websites are allowed to telecast these programmes in an unauthorised manner, the subscription base is likely to be jeopardised.

Commenting on the court's decision, Viacom18's general counsel Anil Lale said, "The issuance of this dynamic injunction order underscores the court's profound recognition of the inherent value of content and the pressing need to combat piracy in real time. The proactive stance taken by the honourable court provides invaluable support in our continuing fight against piracy."