Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) has stepped up its fight against online piracy by taking legal action against social media platforms, illegal streaming websites, and the unauthorized use of its copyrighted content. In the past few months, the company has received important support from the Delhi High Court, showing that Indian courts are becoming stricter about protecting digital content.
These cases come at a time when online piracy is a major problem for broadcasters and content creators. From protecting its exclusive rights to broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2026 to asking Meta to remove pirated TV shows from Facebook, Zee is taking action on several fronts to stop copyright violations.
Delhi High Court Gives Zee Strong Support Against Piracy
Before the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be held from June 11 to July 19, Zee moved the Delhi High Court to protect its exclusive broadcasting rights in India. The company said that illegal streaming websites quickly create new domains and mirror sites whenever one website is blocked, making it difficult to stop piracy during live sports events.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee granted Zee an ex-parte ad-interim “Dynamic+” injunction. This special order allows Zee to get not only existing pirate websites blocked but also future mirror websites, redirect links, and rogue mobile apps as soon as they are identified.
The case included websites such as soccerbox.me, soccerworldcup.me, dlhd.pk, strumyk.uk, and sportsbay.pro. It also involved their domain registrars, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), asking them to help enforce the court’s directions.
After getting the order, Zee’s Anti-Piracy Sports team reportedly sent 27 urgent requests to government authorities. These included around 1,855 domains and URLs and 60 rogue mobile app interfaces that needed to be blocked immediately.
The Dynamic+ injunction is seen as an important step because it allows authorities to block new piracy websites as soon as they appear, without waiting for a fresh court order every time. This can help protect live sports broadcasts more effectively.
Zee Takes Meta and Nykaa to Court Over Copyright Issues
Zee is also fighting a separate legal case against Meta Platforms over the illegal sharing of its television shows on Facebook.
According to the company, several Facebook pages have been uploading full TV episodes and video clips without permission. Zee said these pages let users watch copyrighted content for free while earning money through advertisements and views.
The broadcaster told the Delhi High Court that it had been trying to solve this issue with Meta for nearly two years. During pre-litigation mediation in 2024, Zee even offered technical help to improve Meta’s piracy detection system. However, the company said these efforts did not lead to a long-term solution.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed Meta to remove the Facebook links shared by Zee that contained pirated content. However, the court did not order the suspension of the Facebook pages involved. It said Meta should first be given a chance to present its side before any further action is taken.
In another case, Zee has filed a Rs. 2 crore copyright infringement suit against Nykaa’s parent company, FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd. Zee claims that Nykaa used its copyrighted songs in 12 promotional Instagram reels without permission.
According to Zee, Meta’s music licence mainly allows personal and non-commercial use by individual users. Since Nykaa used the songs to promote its business, Zee says the company should have obtained a separate licence.
Nykaa has already removed the 12 Instagram reels. It has also asked the court to make Meta a party to the case, saying only Meta can clearly explain the terms of its music licensing system. The Delhi High Court has now referred the matter to mediation.
New IT Rules Put More Responsibility on Digital Platforms
These copyright cases are happening at a time when India’s Information Technology Rules, 2026 have made the rules stricter for social media companies and other digital platforms.
Under the new rules, platforms must remove illegal content within three hours after receiving a valid court or government order. Earlier, they had much more time to act. If they fail to follow these rules, they could lose their Section 79 safe harbour protection, which protects them from legal responsibility for content uploaded by users.
Another case in the Delhi High Court has also raised concerns about Meta’s copyright system. Financial educator Pushkar Raj Thakur claimed that some users misused Facebook’s “Edit Post” feature to create fake backdated copyright claims against his original videos. Because of this, Meta’s automated system wrongly issued copyright strikes against his account.
During the court proceedings, Meta assured the court that it would restore the affected content, investigate the issue, and improve the security of the creator’s account.
Together, these cases show that India is taking stronger steps to protect digital content. As broadcasters spend more money on sports and entertainment rights, courts are giving greater support to copyright owners. The decisions in these cases could also shape how social media platforms and technology companies deal with online piracy and copyright protection in the future.