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ZEEL, SPNI to piggyback on JioStar’s super injunction in piracy crackdown
The legal breakthrough comes amid JioStar’s ongoing battle against platforms like IPTV Smarters that illegally streamed marquee events and other sports content.
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With the Delhi High Court granting JioStar a first-of-its-kind “superlative injunction,” broadcasters such as Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) and OTT platforms are likely to piggyback on the judgement to seek proactive, sweeping anti-piracy relief. The order marks a shift toward anticipatory protection, empowering content owners to act fast against mobile apps and websites streaming pirated material.
The superlative injunction, granted by Justice Saurabh Banerjee on May 29, allows JioStar to take down unauthorized piracy platforms — including newly appearing websites, mirror domains, and mobile apps — without having to return to court for every violation. The legal breakthrough comes amid JioStar’s ongoing battle against platforms like IPTV Smarters that illegally streamed marquee events and other sports content.
The broader implications are significant. Legal experts believe ZEEL, SPNI and OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video among others — owning expansive content libraries and live sports rights — could invoke this precedent to obtain similar injunctions, dramatically improving enforcement capabilities.
Siddharth Chandrashekhar, Bombay High Court lawyer, emphasized the judgment’s strategic value for large broadcasters, “Broadcasters now have something much akin a legal template. SPNI, ZEEL, etc., can piggyback on this ruling to seek similar super-injunctions, shielding revenue-intensive content and combating link farms before they sprout. However Star's legal, technical, and financial muscle is not universally replicable.”
Chandrashekhar said, “Smaller players often lack tools for real-time monitoring, digital evidence collection, or jurisdictional enforcement. Domain hopping remains a real threat unless ISPs act swiftly and uniformly. While the precedent is powerful, enforcement consistency and digital traceability will determine whether others can replicate Star’s success.”
According to “The Rob Report” released by EY and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the size of India’s piracy economy was ₹224 billion in 2023, ranking fourth against the segment wise revenue generated by India’s Media and Entertainment industry. Of this, ₹137 billion was generated from pirated content from movie theaters while ₹87 billion was generated from OTT platforms’ content. The potential GST losses of up to ₹43 billion were estimated to have been incurred.
Vindhya S Mani, Partner at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, called the judgment a milestone in India’s IP protection landscape: “As a proactive IP jurisdiction, Indian judiciary as well as lawmakers continue to take different measures to tackle evolving forms of piracy. Therefore, the law and the Courts are well-suited to tackle piracy. The aspect of enforcement of laws and Court decisions is also improving with measures such as dynamic and superlative interim injunction measures.”
Mani said, “The introduction of superlative injunctions will broaden the scope of relief in infringement actions by taking mobile applications, rogue websites, mirror applications, mirror websites, etc., within its scope. As a consequence of the broader scope of relief, broadcasters would now be able to avoid duplicative litigation and enforce a superlative injunction against all rogue platforms, thereby reducing costs and making enforcement more efficient.”
Storyboard18 had first reported about Gujarat’s Gandhinagar Cyber Police, acting on a complaint from Star India, had arrested an alleged kingpin behind an illicit Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service that attracted roughly five million subscribers and generated an estimated ₹700 crore (US $84 million) in annual revenue.
A senior counsel on condition of anonymity said, “OTT platforms can invoke this precedent to shield marquee releases. The logic behind anticipatory injunctions applies equally to Netflix originals and Prime debuts, especially when pirated versions are out within minutes of launch. However, OTT piracy is more fragmented and there are various mediums/applications Internet Pirates use such as Telegram, VPNs, torrenting, shadow websites. OTTs got a new firewall, but hackers still know the backdoor. The court gave OTTs a desi shield. Now they need a global sword.”
India may have just armed its broadcasters and content creators with a legal sledgehammer — now, it's a question of how smartly and swiftly they swing it.
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