This is a weekly post on copyright and entertainment law news.
Interim injunction granted against piracy of Brahmastra
The Delhi High Court, on 2nd September, granted an ex-parte relief to Star India Pvt. Ltd., in relation to its upcoming movie ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, by granting an injunction against the website www.7MovieRulz.TC. Star Movies had filed the case, anticipating that the defendant would upload a pirated version of the highly anticipated film ‘Brahmastra’ to the website in question. Calling it a prima facie case, where Star India Pvt. Ltd. was likely to suffer significant losses, the Court granted the ex-parte order, directing the Department of Telecommunications and Ministry of Information and Technology to get the impugned website blocked.
Apple settles ongoing copyright licensing dispute
Following a streak of disputes related to copyright licenses for certain songs available on the Apple Music library, Apple finally settled its disputes with heirs of musicians Harold Arlen, Harry Warren and Henderson, in relation to the sale of unlicensed recordings of their songs on the tech giant’s iTunes Store in the United States. The suits were initially instituted in 2019, where other companies such as Amazon and Google were also implicated for uploading the plaintiffs’ copyrighted works on their respective music streaming platforms without any license or authorisation. A San Francisco Court documented on 31 August 2022 that the suit with Apple had been settled between the parties.
LeBron James and Drake sued over upcoming documentary ‘Black Ice’
NBA Star LeBron James and hip-hop sensation Drake have been sued for $10 Million before the State Supreme Court in New York, by the former NBA Player’s Union Head, Billy Hunter, claiming theft of ‘intellectual property rights’ for making a documentary film titled ‘Black Ice’, which was based on a book of the same name. Hunter claims to have already obtained a license from the authors of the book, George Frosty and Darril Frosty, for adapting the book into a film. While the authors have called it a frivolous lawsuit, Hunter has claimed that the LeBron James and Drake have indulged in theft of intellectual property, to which neither of the defendants have replied.
AT&T sued due to repeat copyright infringement offenders
AT&T, one of the most prominent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the USA, has been sued by a group of independent film producing companies, namely Voltage Pictures and its affiliates, claiming that the ISP is guilty of “vicarious and contributory infringement” of its copyrighted works. The companies filed the suit on 2 September 2022, before the District Court of Texas, alleging that AT&T “provides the IP addresses used for piracy, makes the connections needed to share and download pirated films, and transmits the pirated films”.
Authored and compiled by Varun Gopala Krishnan (Associate, BananaIP Counsels), and Tanmaya Purohit (Intern, BananaIP Counsels)
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