Dynamic injunctions against Internet intermediaries: An overview of emerging trends in India and Singapore

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jwip.12140
• Date: 01 March 2020
• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Author: Pratik P. Dixit

J World Intellect Prop. 2020;23:65–74. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jwip © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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DOI: 10.1111/jwip.12140

NOTE

Dynamic injunctions against Internet

intermediaries: An overview of emerging

trends in India and Singapore

Pratik P. Dixit

Student of law, National Law School of India

University, Bengaluru, India

Correspondence

Pratik P. Dixit, Student of law, National Law

School of India University, Bengaluru 560072,

India.

Email: pratik@nls.ac.in

Abstract

The courts generally resort to website blocking injunctions

to protect the rights of the content creators from digital

piracy. However, merely disabling access to infringing

websites does not necessarily ensure protection of copy-

right as there are dynamic ways of accessing an online

location. The courts, therefore, have sought to develop new

mechanisms to counter the menace of digital piracy.

Recently, the Delhi High Court granted India’s first dynamic

injunction against Internet intermediaries to combat digital

piracy in cinematographic works. A dynamic injunction

would allow a plaintiff to extend the main injunction order

against mirror websites providing access to the flagrantly

infringing online locations that were the subject of the main

injunction. This note primarily aims to analyse the concept of

dynamic injunctions. The author examines and compares the

Indian position to that in Singapore to highlight the different

trends that have emerged with respect to dynamic injunc-

tion. The principal conclusion is that, despite the near

similarities of the dynamic injunctions issued by the courts

in the two countries, the dynamic injunction issued by the

Indian court seeks to effectively protect the rights of the

website operators as it affords constant judicial supervision.

KEYWORDS

dynamic injunction, copyright, blocking injunction, internet service

providers, intellectual property