Over 1.3K piracy sites ordered not to screen Vikram

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday restrained Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and over 1,000 piracy websites from unauthorised screening of parts or in full the Kamal Haasan-starrer Vikram, set for release on June 3. 

The order was passed by Justice C Saravanan on a petition filed by R Murali Krishnan of Raaj Kamal Films International (a production house owned by Kamal Haasan), seeking injunction on 29 ISPs, including BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio, and 1,308 piracy websites from unauthorised copying, transmission, and communication of the movie.

According to an affidavit filed by Raaj Kamal Films International through advocate Vijayan Subramanian, Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Fahad Faasil, is set for release worldwide on 1,000 screens. 

The advocate submitted that the applicant (producer) apprehended that when the film is released, the websites would illegally copy, record, download, reproduce, transmit, and communicate the copyright-protected film. “Such an act would cause serious loss and damage to the business of the applicant and would also render a death blow to the commercial viability and business prospects of the said film,” affidavit said.

It said the applicant worries that the said 1,308 websites have the potential to upload and/or enable third parties to copy, reproduce, distribute, display the film through the 29 ISPs. It amounts to infringement of the applicant’s copyright. 

Moreover, the websites didn’t have the mechanism of “take-down” wherein copyright protected material is removed from an online platform upon request of the copy-right holder. Such requests had fallen on deaf ears, it contended. It was feared that unless the respondents are restrained as prayed for, other persons with whom the applicant had entered into agreements for the purpose of marketing, promotion, exploitation, communication etc., would also suffer huge financial losses.