Delhi Court issues notice to Mohak Mangal and Google in fresh ANI case

A Delhi court has issued notices to YouTuber Mohak Mangal and Google LLC in a new lawsuit filed by Asian News International (ANI), accusing Mangal of using its news footage without permission. This marks the second legal case ANI has brought against the content creator.

The case, heard on Monday by District Judge (Commercial Courts) Balwant Rai Bansal, concerns alleged unauthorised use of ten ANI videos and the agency’s logo on Mangal’s YouTube channel. ANI has sought a permanent and mandatory injunction, along with Rs 50 lakh in damages, claiming copyright infringement, plagiarism, and unjust enrichment.

While ANI’s lawyer, Advocate Sidhant Kumar, argued for a status quo order to prevent the videos from being re-uploaded, the judge declined to pass an interim order and listed the matter for further hearing on July 26.

Kumar emphasised that while only one video was challenged in ANI’s earlier case in the Delhi High Court over alleged defamation, the current case is focused on copyright violations across multiple videos. He asserted that Mangal is earning revenue from content that belongs to ANI, stating, “He cannot copy my content verbatim.”

In response, Mangal’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Chander Lall, argued that the matter was already before the High Court and accused ANI of "forum shopping"—filing similar cases in different courts to get favourable orders. He also indicated plans to seek a transfer of the case to the High Court.

ANI claims the videos in question have been viewed over four million times, diverting audience traffic and publicity to Mangal’s channel. The agency argues that this viewership was unfairly earned at the expense of ANI’s exclusive content rights.

The court has asked ANI to provide complete copies of the legal documents to the defendants, who may now file their responses before the next hearing.

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