Star India Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Magicwin.games & Ors.Court: High Court of Delhi Case Number: CS(COMM) 490/2024 Neutral Citation: [2025/DHC/4210] Date of Decision: April 2, 2025 Judges: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Amit Bansal
Facts: Star India Pvt. Ltd. is a prominent broadcaster in India, holding exclusive media rights for various sports events. It operates over seventy channels across multiple languages and platforms, including their streaming service, Disney+ Hotstar. The case centers around their broadcasting rights for the "ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024," held from June 2 to June 29, 2024.
Star India entered a Media Rights Agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on August 27, 2022, granting them exclusive digital media and television broadcasting rights in India for ICC events from 2024 to 2027. Given the immense popularity of cricket in India, Star India anticipated significant revenue from streaming and broadcasting the T20 World Cup.
The defendants, identified as rogue websites, engaged in unauthorized streaming and dissemination of Star India’s content, alongside operating illegal betting and gambling services contrary to the Public Gambling Act of 1867. The defendants included various domain name registrars, internet service providers, and governmental telecommunications bodies.
Legal Proceedings: Upon filing the suit, Star India sought a permanent injunction to restrain the defendants from further unauthorized dissemination of their content. The court issued an ex-parte ad interim injunction on May 30, 2024, prohibiting the defendants from infringing upon Star India's exclusive rights. It required domain registrars to disclose the details of the rogue websites and directed internet service providers to block access to these sites.
As the proceedings progressed, additional rogue websites were identified, leading Star India to amend its pleadings and include these new defendants. Notably, despite being duly served, defendants failed to submit a written statement or contest the claims.
Judgment: The court analyzed the merits of the case, noting that the defendants’ activities had significantly harmed Star India’s interests by infringing on its broadcast rights and diluting its content's value. The court found that, with no contest from the defendants, the allegations in the plaint were deemed admitted.
On this basis, the court issued a decree for a permanent injunction agait the defendants, preventing them from disseminating Star India's exclusive content. The plaintiff did not pursue other reliefs beyond the injunction, and the court ordered that a decree sheet be drawn up.
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