WhatsApp users sharing copyrighted content without permission are considered pirates and should have their accounts suspended, ordered Delhi High Court recently. This judgment came after a lawsuit filed by Zee Entertainment, who identified that parts of their movie Radhe have been shared among WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp Users Sharing Pirated Content Will be Banned
With movie pirating becoming so usual, copyright holders are finding new ways to contain the spread of it. One such means is spotting the platform where it’s being shared illegally and exercising action on infringers. Zee Entertainment, an Indian media conglomerate is doing the same upon spotting the parts of Radhe movie begin distributed on WhatsApp.
— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 15, 2021
After finding enough evidence, it filed a case with the Additional Commissioner of Police, Central Region, Cyber Cell, and the Inspector General of Police at the Maharashtra Cyber Digital Crime Unit. This was also pushed by the producer-cum-actor of Radhe, Salman Khan to warn viewers about pirating the movie.
Similarly, Zee Entertainment too had warned the community of pirating not just Radhe movie, but also any other copyrighted material without permission. With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down movie theatres, many Indian movies were released directly on OTT platforms – so happened with Radhe.
Zee Entertainment has spotted the illegal activity happening on WhatsApp, even after warning, so took it to the Delhi High Court this time and obtained a favorable injunction.
This led WhatsApp to be ordered on restraining the eight identified defendants from storing, reproducing, communicating, disseminating, circulating, copying, selling, or offering for sale any copies of the film. Future, WhatsApp is ordered to suspend any of such accounts in future if Zee Entertainment proves with evidence.
