New Delhi, June 10 – A Delhi court on Monday issued notice to YouTuber Mohak Mangal and Google LLC in a fresh copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by Asian News International (ANI), alleging unauthorized use of the agency’s video content. Bar and Bench reports that District Judge (Commercial Courts) Balwant Rai Bansal, however, declined to grant interim relief for continued takedown of the contested videos and listed the matter for further hearing on July 26.
This is the second legal proceeding initiated by ANI against Mangal, with an earlier suit currently pending before the Delhi High Court. That matter, Bar and Bench notes, involves allegations of defamation and disparagement based on remarks made by Mangal, in which he criticised ANI’s copyright enforcement practices on YouTube as “extortionate.” On May 29, Mangal had agreed to remove certain contentious references to the news agency from his video.
In the present matter before the district court, ANI has alleged that Mangal reproduced at least ten of its videos on his channel without authorization and also used the agency’s logo without permission. ANI has sought a permanent and mandatory injunction along with damages amounting to Rs 50 lakh for alleged copyright infringement, piracy, plagiarism, unjust enrichment, and related wrongs.
Advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing ANI, submitted to the court that the earlier suit before the High Court pertained to a single video that included allegedly defamatory language. “I only impugned one video before the High Court in which he is using defamatory words,” Bar and Bench quotes Kumar as stating. He added that the new suit concerns a separate set of videos that have since been taken down due to infringement complaints, but may be reinstated under YouTube’s content policy.
“He is making revenue out of copying my content,” Kumar submitted. “They don’t dispute they have used my video; they say they are entitled to use. He cannot copy my content verbatim. He cannot copy the videos of my journalists and videographer,” Bar and Bench reports.
Appearing for Mangal, Senior Advocate Chander Lall challenged the maintainability of the new suit, terming it an instance of “forum shopping.” He argued that similar relief had already been sought and denied by the Delhi High Court, suggesting that ANI was attempting to re-litigate the same issues in a different forum. Lall informed the court of Mangal’s intention to seek a transfer of the matter to the High Court.
The court directed ANI to supply a complete copy of the plaint to the defendants and permitted them to file written statements and responses to the application for interim relief. “I am not passing any [interim order]. I am just fixing it for consideration and I will be hearing on the next date,” the judge observed.
ANI, in its plaint, has contended that Mangal’s allegedly infringing videos garnered viewership exceeding four million and were widely circulated among subscribers and the general public. Bar and Bench reports that ANI claims Mangal’s actions diverted audience traffic and generated publicity and revenue at the expense of its proprietary content. “These infringing publications have enabled Defendant No. 1 to divert the traffic of viewers from Plaintiff to its own channel… Defendant No. 1 is thus, gaining wide publicity and revenue at the cost of infringement of the exclusive rights of the Plaintiff,” the suit reportedly states.
Senior Advocate Chander Lall was joined by advocates Nakul Gandhi, Annanya Mehan, Mujeeb, and Tanish Gupta in representing Mangal in the proceedings.
The matter is next listed for hearing on July 26.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
