After years of making, Ayan Mukerji's upcoming film Brahmastra starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt will all set to hit the theatrical screens this week. Before that, the Delhi High Court has blocked several 'rogue' websites, saying that piracy has to be curbed and dealt with a heavy hand.
This ex parte interim order was passed by Justice Jyoti Singh after a lawsuit was moved by Star India Pvt Ltd, co-producer of Brahmastra in relation with copyright infringement. Singh noted thatthe availability of the film online at the same time as its theatrical release or in close proximity of the release would severely impact the producers' financially and also erode the value of the film. As per a report in PTI, the court in its order dated September 2 stated, "There is no gain saying that piracy has to be curbed and needs to be dealt with a heavy hand and injunction against screening of copyrighted content by rogue websites ought to be granted... Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad-interim relief." "Defendants No. 1 to 18 (rogue websites) and all others acting for and/or on their behalf are restrained from in any manner hosting, streaming, retransmitting, exhibiting, making available for viewing and downloading, providing access to and/or communicating to the public, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, updating and/or sharing on their websites through the internet or any other platform, the film Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva and contents related thereto, so as to infringe the Plaintiff's copyright therein, till the next date of hearing,” the court mentioned in its order. The court in its order directed the 'Domain Name Registrants' to suspend/block the domain names registrations of the rouge websites named by the plaintiff. It also asked the Centre to issue necessary notifications calling upon the internet service providers to block access to these illegal websites. The Delhi High Court further issued summons on the lawsuit by the plaintiff and listed the case for further hearing on November 29. Directed by Ayan Mukerji, Brahmastra features Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy in pivotal roles with cameos by Nagarjuna Akkineni and Shah Rukh Khan.