Court restrains unauthorized streaming of multiple major sporting events by infringing websites and orders ISPs and domain registrars to block access and disclose registrant details under Copyright Act provisions.
In a significant ruling delivered on September 10, 2026, the Delhi High Court, presided over by Justice Jyoti Singh, granted an ex parte ad interim injunction restraining several rogue websites from unauthorized broadcasting and streaming of live sporting events. The suit was filed by Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd., operator of the popular digital sports streaming platform FanCode, which holds exclusive broadcasting rights across India for multiple premier sports events.
Sporta Technologies, through its FanCode platform, streams live matches and sports content across more than 20 sports, serving over 240 million Indian sports fans. The company has secured exclusive broadcast reproduction rights under various agreements for high-profile events such as the 2026 Formula One World Championship, Saudi Pro League football matches, ATP tennis tournaments, Copa del Rey football, the Masters golf tournament, and the U.S. Open golf championships, among others.
The plaintiff discovered that defendants operating rogue websites, including "WeStreamF1" (westreamf1.st), "Stream East" (istreameast.cx), "Live TV" (livetv903.me), and multiple sub-domains under pages.dev, were illegally streaming live sporting events covered under Sporta's exclusive licenses. These unauthorized streams often embedded the plaintiff's registered FANCODE trademark, evidencing piracy of the plaintiff's proprietary broadcast feed.
The court observed that these defendants operated habitual piracy platforms primarily for commercial gain through advertisement revenues, without any legal authorization. Defendant No. 2, in particular, was found to have adopted domain names deceptively similar to the plaintiff's "FANCODE" trademarks, amounting to trademark infringement and passing off.
Given the ongoing and imminent sporting events, the court emphasized the urgency of curbing piracy, noting that the value of live sports content is exhausted during the event itself, and any delay in blocking infringing websites would cause irreparable harm to the plaintiff's exclusive rights and revenue. The court also referred to recent precedents where similar "Dynamic+ injunctions" were granted to effectively block mirror and variant rogue websites in real time.
Accordingly, the court granted the ex parte ad interim injunction restraining the defendants from unauthorized broadcasting or streaming of the plaintiff's content. The defendants were also restrained from using the FANCODE trademarks or deceptively similar marks in domain names or promotional materials. The court directed domain registrars and hosting providers to suspend and lock the infringing domains within 24 hours and ordered Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to these sites and any mirror or redirect variants within 24 hours of receiving the order. Registrant and access details of the infringing domains were also ordered to be disclosed to the plaintiff and preserved pending final adjudication.
This judgment reinforces the protection available under Section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1957, which safeguards broadcasting reproduction rights, and affirms the courts' proactive stance against online piracy of live sports content in India.
Bottom Line:
Grant of ex parte ad interim injunction restraining rogue websites from unauthorized broadcasting and streaming of live sporting events, protecting exclusive broadcasting rights under Section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
Statutory provision(s):
Section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1957; Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015; Trade Marks Act, 1999
Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd. v. John Doe, (Delhi) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2979307
