The Delhi High Court has issued a John Doe order directing global technology giant Meta Platforms to remove Facebook posts allegedly including pirated content belonging to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL), granting the broadcaster immediate interim relief in its copyright infringement suit. According to reports from Live Law, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the ex parte ad interim order after hearing Zee Entertainment's plea and directed the social media company to take down the identified Facebook URLs hosting the allegedly infringing copyrighted content. The John Doe order is specifically designed to curb intellectual property infringement by unidentified individuals or entities, having been previously used to take down unauthorised online streams, curb movie piracy, and block deepfakes and impersonation content.
Zee argued that several Facebook pages were illegally uploading its television programmes and clips, allowing users to watch them without permission. As reported by Mint, they also alleged that such pirated videos continued to resurface despite repeated takedown requests. The broadcaster presented screenshots of multiple Facebook pages in court to demonstrate how its copyrighted programs were allegedly being uploaded and monetized without authorization. Zee argued that Meta also profited from this arrangement, as the pirated videos continued to drive high traffic and user engagement on its platform. The company told the court that Facebook users and profiles were uploading and sharing Zee's shows, movies, and other material without permission often to earn money through views and ads, highlighting the commercial nature of the piracy operation.
The court agreed to order a takedown of specific posts identified by Zee, but declined to suspend or block the Facebook pages themselves. According to Live Law, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said, "The court is not persuaded, at this stage, to direct the blocking of the accounts… [Meta] is directed to take down the content in the URLs set out." The court also asked Zee for a soft copy of all Facebook links containing allegedly infringing content so that Meta could act on them without delay, stating "Give us a soft copy and I will ask them to take it down, but blocking of accounts we'll see after they come." Justice Bhambhani indicated that the court could consider blocking the accounts at a later stage after the defendants file their replies. The court has now issued summons and asked both sides to file their written replies, with the case scheduled to be heard again after parties file their responses.
This lawsuit is part of Zee's comprehensive strategy to protect its content across digital platforms. In May, the Delhi High Court sent a copyright infringement dispute between the Reliance-Disney joint venture and Zee Entertainment to mediation. Zee had earlier sued JioStar for ₹2 crore in damages, alleging the unauthorized use and exploitation of works from its music division on the streaming platform and certain television channels after licensing agreements expired in 2024 and 2025. According to Zee, those efforts failed to produce a lasting solution despite both parties participating in pre-litigation mediation in 2024. Separately, Zee had sued beauty and fashion ecommerce major Nykaa for allegedly using its copyrighted songs in promotional Instagram reels without permission, seeking around ₹2 crore in damages and submitting 12 reels as evidence in the case. For regular viewers, this development means that pirated episodes or clips of popular Zee shows that were floating around on Facebook should start disappearing soon.
