38.6c New Delhi, India, Thursday, August 07, 2025
Top Stories Supreme Court
Political NEWS Legislative Corner Celebstreet International Videos
Subscribe Contact Us
close
CelebStreet

Big relief for Viacom-18: Delhi High Court restrains illegal streaming of 'Bigg Boss' [Read Order]

By Shreya Agarwal      19 October, 2023 03:58 PM      0 Comments
Big relief for Viacom 18 Delhi High Court restrains illegal streaming of Big Boss Read Order

New Delhi: In a major relief to reality show Bigg Boss' broadcast reproduction rights owner, Viacom-18, the Delhi High Court has restrained illegal broadcasters of the reality show from streaming the show on their platforms.

Namely, the domains where the previous and present programmes of Bigg Boss were being made available through the 'Video-on-Demand' arrangement were 'Biggbos.live', 'Bigg-boss.in', 'Bigg-boss17.com', 'Biggboss17online.com' and
'Biggbosslive.net'.

The illegal streaming of the show by these domains was causing huge losses to Viacom-18, along with gross violation of its copyrights, and therefore an injunction was necessitated in the matter, Viacom-18 submitted before the bench of Justice Prathiba Singh.

Viacom-18 also told Court that the domains were also already advertising the availability of yet-to-be-released seasons of Bigg Boss.

Viacom-18 had obtained the format rights from M/s Endemol Shine IP BV, which owns the format of the show. Viacom-18's rights were recognized vide agreement dated 17th August, 2020 for Bigg Boss Hindi, seasons 17 and 18.

The show itself has been produced and broadcasted in India since 2008. The said programme has had 16 seasons in Hindi language and season 17 of Bigg Boss Hindi is expected to be launched on 15th October, 2023.

The show has also been produced and telecasted in two regional languages Kannada and Marathi.

Endemol Shine IP BV has given the
exclusive license of the format to the Plaintiff for Bigg Boss Hindi seasons 17 and 18, scheduled to be broadcasted from 15th October, 2023 and Bigg Boss Kannada Seasons 10 to 12 to be broadcasted from 8th October, 2023 as also Bigg Boss Marathi seasons 5 to 8.

Viacom-18 broadcasts these programmes on the television channels 'Colors' and 'Colors Kannada' as also on its OTT platform JioCinema.

Taking note of the submissions, the Court reasoned, "The Bigg Boss programme enjoys enormous popularity even in India and the unauthorized and illegal dissemination of the Bigg Boss programmes, irrespective of past and future seasons, would be clear infringement of the Plaintiffs (Viacom-18's) copyright of broadcast and reproduction rights."

It then proceeded to grant an ex-parte injunction against illegal streaming of the show Bigg Boss.

The bench said that if illegal websites were permitted to mushroom, it would not only harm the subscription base of Viacom-18 but also boost piracy in the country.

Therefore, the bench restrained the domains in the present case, as well as those that may come to the notice of Viacom-18 in future from broadcasting, telecasting, streaming, retransmitting and hosting any Bigg Boss episode (past or future).

The Defendant-websites and their domain names were also directed to be suspended and/or blocked.

[Read Order]



Share this article:



Leave a feedback about this
Related Posts
View All

Big relief for Viacom-18: Delhi High Court restrains illegal streaming of 'Bigg Boss' [Read Order] Big relief for Viacom-18: Delhi High Court restrains illegal streaming of 'Bigg Boss' [Read Order]

Delhi High Court restrains illegal streaming of reality show Big Boss on plea by Viacom-18 alleging violation of broadcast reproduction and intellectual property rights.

TRENDING NEWS

sc-approves-tamil-nadus-with-you-stalin-scheme-slaps-rs-10-lakh-cost-on-aiadmk-mp
Trending Judiciary
SC approves Tamil Nadu's 'With You Stalin' scheme; slaps Rs 10 lakh cost on AIADMK MP

SC upholds Tamil Nadu’s ‘With You Stalin’ scheme, slams AIADMK MP with ₹10L fine for misuse of law to target DMK amid similar schemes nationwide.

06 August, 2025 03:12 PM
sc-asks-ec-to-file-response-to-plea-seeking-reasons-for-excluding-65-lakh-voters-in-bihars-sir
Trending Judiciary
SC asks EC to file response to plea seeking reasons for excluding 65 lakh voters in Bihar's SIR

SC seeks EC’s reply on plea alleging exclusion of 65 lakh voters in Bihar during electoral roll revision; hearing set for August 12.

06 August, 2025 03:16 PM

TOP STORIES

sc-to-first-consider-maintainability-of-review-against-2022-judgment-on-eds-powers-under-pmla
Trending Judiciary
SC to first consider maintainability of review against 2022 judgment on ED's powers under PMLA

SC to first decide if review pleas on ED powers under PMLA are maintainable; hearing on Karti Chidambaram’s plea set for August 6.

01 August, 2025 10:58 AM
sc-recalls-may-2-judgment-scrapping-jsw-steels-resolution-plan-for-bhushan-power-and-steel-ltd
Trending Business
SC recalls May 2 judgment scrapping JSW Steel's resolution plan for Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd

SC recalls its May 2 verdict cancelling JSW Steel’s ₹19,300 Cr resolution plan for Bhushan Power; matter to be heard afresh on August 7.

01 August, 2025 11:13 AM
electronic-communication-not-valid-mode-of-service-of-notice-under-section-35-bnss-sc
Trending Judiciary
Electronic communication not valid mode of service of notice under Section 35 BNSS: SC [Read Order]

SC holds WhatsApp or email not valid for notice under Section 35 BNSS due to arrest risk; personal service required to safeguard liberty.

01 August, 2025 11:25 AM
sc-quashes-criminal-case-against-actor-mohan-babu-son
Trending CelebStreet
SC quashes criminal case against Actor Mohan Babu, son for dharna during 2019 General Elections [Read Judgment]

SC quashes case against Mohan Babu, son for 2019 dharna; says it was peaceful protest, no offence made out under electoral or criminal laws.

01 August, 2025 02:18 PM

ADVERTISEMENT


Join Group

Signup for Our Newsletter

Get Exclusive access to members only content by email