Delhi High Court restrains rogue apps, websites from streaming Premier League football matches

The Delhi High Court on May 7 granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of Football Association Premier League Limited (FAPL/ plaintiff), restraining several rogue applications and websites such as Yoghurt TV, Venus 11 and Nova IPTV from illegally streaming Premier League football matches in India..The order was passed by Justice Saurabh Banerjee on a suit filed by FAPL, the organiser of the English Premier League, seeking a permanent injunction against copyright infringement and unauthorised streaming of its matches.In India, the rights to broadcast Premier League matches are exclusively held by Star India."Since the plaintiff is the legally rightful owner of the intellectual property rights therein, i.e. both qua its original works as well as the licensed works for exclusive broadcasting, the plaintiff is well and truly entitled to seek and obtain protection. More so, since the infringing acts of the defendant nos.1 to 5 are without obtaining any kind of permission/ authorization/ right/ title/ interest from the plaintiff. and found that the plaintiff had made out a strong prima facie case warranting urgent protection of its intellectual property rights," the Court stated..In India, the rights to broadcast Premier League matches are exclusively held by Star India.According to FAPL, several apps and websites including Yoghurt TV, Venus SG and Nova IPTV had illegally broadcast its matches during April 2025. The plaintiff also submitted that multiple takedown notices issued between April 10 to 14 went unheeded..Recognising the persistent and evolving nature of online piracy, the Court issued a comprehensive and future-proof order, granting the following key reliefs:Blocking of Over 30 Domain Names: Domain name registrars such as GoDaddy.com, NameSilo, NameCheap, Hostinger and Public Domain Registry were directed to block and suspend over 30 infringing domains within 72 hours of receiving a copy of the order. These included domains such as 1357c.cc, googleasapi.com, googleserver.top, novaiptv.org and ky-iptv.com;Disclosure of Registrant Information: The registrars were further directed to furnish full registrant and billing details, including KYC, mobile numbers and email addresses of the domain holders associated with the infringing apps;ISP Blocking: ISPs named as defendants in the suit were instructed to block public access to these domains across India;Involvement of Government Authorities: Department of Telecom and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) were directed to ensure compliance by the ISPs and issue necessary notices to all registered service providers;John Doe Protection: A “John Doe” or Ashok Kumar order was granted to tackle anonymous or future infringers who may surface during the ongoing EPL season.‘Dynamic+’ Injunction: The Court granted a ‘dynamic+’ injunction, enabling FAPL to directly notify ISPs or DNRs about any new domains (including mirror, redirect or alphanumeric variations) linked to the infringing acts, which must then be blocked in real-time. The plaintiff was also directed to file affidavits informing the Court of such developments..Justice Banerjee took note of the technological sophistication used by the rogue entities to evade detection, stating:“Masked players like the defendant nos. 1 to 5… use the veil of today’s technology to conveniently conceal their true identities and unabashedly abuse and enrich themselves by using the protected works of parties like the plaintiff.”He warned that if such unauthorised streams were not curbed immediately, the legitimate rights of parties like the plaintiff would be put in serious jeopardy.Hence, it concluded that the balance of convenience was overwhelmingly in favour of FAPL and irreparable harm would be caused to it if the injunction was not granted.FAPL was represented by advocates Saikrishna Rajagopal, Suhasini Raina, Angad Makkar and Abhey Aren. .[Read Order]