Associated Broadcasting Company Limited, which runs TV9 news channels, uploaded videos on YouTube about real events like hurricanes, heavy snow, floods, the Israel-Hamas war and a Chinese spy balloon, using very short clips of raw footage to explain the news to the public. Some American and Turkish media companies claimed copyright in those tiny clips and sent repeated strike notices to YouTube, threatening to shut down TV9 channels if the videos stayed up. TV9 said the clips were too small to matter, showed only plain facts of nature and current affairs that no one can own, and were used fairly just for honest news reporting. When TV9 tried to talk, the companies demanded secret business records and later filed a case in America but quietly dropped it against TV9’s channels. Google, as the platform owner, stayed neutral and only followed its rules. The companies never filed any reply or appeared in the Delhi High Court despite being served many times, so the court treated their claims as untrue. The judge looked at the videos and saw the clips lasted only seconds inside much longer news stories full of TV9’s own commentary, making the use fair and too tiny to harm anyone under Indian law. On 28 February 2026 the court gave summary judgment without needing a full trial, declared that TV9’s videos do not infringe any copyright, and permanently stopped the companies from sending any more groundless threats or strike notices against these videos.
Title: Associated Broadcasting Co Ltd. Vs Google LLC: 28.02.2026:CS(COMM) 9/2024:2026:DHC:1833:Tejas Karia, H.J.
Disclaimer: Do not treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain subjective errors.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
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