John Doe's "Dynamic+" Order is Secured by ZEE Entertainment to Safeguard Digital Privacy

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Nov 23, 2024 — 2 min read

ZEE Entertainment Secures John Doe’s “Dynamic+” Order for Digital Privacy

For protection against digital privacy, the Delhi high court has issued a "Dynamic+" John Doe order to ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. Without requiring repeated court approvals, this order will allow Zee to take action against websites that are unlawfully streaming its content, including films, TV series, and Zee OTT programming.

Interestingly, a John Doe order is a court order that permits an individual or organisation to pursue action against an unnamed person or group. "John Doe" serves as a stand-in for the unidentified individual who is being accused of misconduct. Under this arrangement, Zee can immediately alert internet service providers, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to block websites that violate the law as soon as they are discovered. As a result, anti-piracy measures can be enforced more quickly and without the delays that come with regular judicial procedures.

Piracy Protection to Zee’s Entire Entertainment Library

Beyond the customary emphasis on live events, the decision also extends protection against piracy to Zee's whole entertainment collection. First, the court ordered 103 websites that were streaming Zee's content without permission to be blocked. With the most recent Asia News International (ANI) lawsuit against Netflix and the creators of the show "Watch IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack" for claimed copyright and trademark infringement. The Indian entertainment industry has experienced an increase in copyright infringement claims recently.

ANI claimed in its appeal that the Netflix programme featured video of General Parvez Musharraf, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and other people without a licence. In other news, Zee cancelled the $1.4 billion TV sub-licensing agreement with Disney Star for the 2024–2027 International Cricket Council (ICC) competitions.

Dynamics of Dynamic+

To combat the "hydra-headed" nature of copyright infringement, the Delhi High Court introduced the Dynamic+ injunction in August 2023. The order, which was proposed by Justice Pratibha Singh, safeguards copyrighted works that have already been generated as well as those that have not yet been. Following lawsuits against 16 pirate websites by studios like Universal, Netflix, and Disney, the decision was made. Judge Singh underlined that disregarding these illegitimate websites hinders innovation and results in financial losses. The Dynamic+ order streamlines enforcement without requiring recurrent court filings by protecting future content, in contrast to typical dynamic injunctions that target existing infringements.

Justice Singh listed the traits of rogue websites, including anonymous ownership, repeated violations, and the hosting of unlawful advertisements. Some encouraged unapproved content sharing over Telegram, while others avoided earlier injunctions by using "alphanumeric variations." Notably, websites with altered domains that had previously been prohibited in other instances, such as TamilMV and Vegamovies, resurfaced. These activities violated IT legislation by discouraging legitimate subscription models and profiting from advertisements. The court issued a thorough Dynamic+ order to stop these actions, siding fully with the studios.