Delhi High Court restrains US copyright lawsuit over weather footage used in Indian news reports

The Delhi High Court has restrained US-based copyright claimants from pursuing infringement proceedings against Indian broadcaster TV Today Network, finding that the dispute is primarily rooted in India and that a jurisdiction declaration submitted through YouTube’s DMCA counter-notification process did not, prima facie, establish an agreement to litigate in the United States.

The Delhi High Court has restrained Global Weather Productions LLC and five other defendants from pursuing copyright infringement proceedings against Indian broadcaster TV Today Network before the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

In an order dated November 5, 2026, Justice Tejas Karia found that the US proceedings were prima facie vexatious and oppressive, given that the disputed news videos were created, edited, and uploaded in India for Indian audiences. The dispute concerns allegations of unauthorized use of weather-related footage in 42 news videos published by TV Today Network, which operates Indian news channels including Aaj Tak, Aaj Tak HD, India Today Television, and Good News Today.

The decision raises important questions about the jurisdictional consequences of online copyright enforcement procedures, particularly whether submitting a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) counter-notification through a platform such as YouTube can expose a broadcaster to copyright litigation in the United States when the underlying activities take place primarily in another country.

Dispute follows YouTube copyright takedowns

The dispute arose after copyright complaints were lodged with YouTube in March 2026 on behalf of Global Weather Productions and five individuals claiming ownership or enforcement rights in weather-related recordings.

The complaints alleged unauthorized use of footage in TV Today’s news reports, prompting YouTube to disable access to certain videos. TV Today subsequently submitted counter-notifications under YouTube’s prescribed procedure, seeking restoration of the removed material. The process required the broadcaster to provide a declaration under Section 512 of the US Copyright Act, including a standard-form jurisdictional statement.

On March 18, 2026, Global Weather Productions and the five individuals initiated proceedings against TV Today before the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The claims included copyright infringement and removal of copyright management information, concerning 42 videos.

The claimants relied, in part, on TV Today’s use of YouTube and the jurisdictional declaration contained in its counter-notifications to establish the US court’s jurisdiction.

TV Today challenged that position, arguing that the counter-notifications were submitted solely to contest the takedowns and restore its videos. It maintained that the jurisdictional declaration was a mandatory, non-negotiable condition imposed by YouTube rather than a negotiated agreement between the parties to litigate copyright disputes in the United States.

The broadcaster also argued that the videos had been scripted, edited, compiled and uploaded in India, incorporating its own narration, reporting, commentary, graphics and other editorial material.

Court questions the jurisdictional effect of DMCA declarations

In considering TV Today’s application for an anti-suit injunction, Justice Karia examined whether the US proceedings had a sufficient connection to the dispute to justify their continuation.

The court noted that the videos had been conceived, edited and uploaded in India by an Indian broadcaster, while the relevant personnel, editorial records and evidence were also located in India. TV Today had no business presence in the United States. It further observed that copyright subsistence and the applicability of copyright exceptions would need to be determined under India’s Copyright Act, 1957.

The court considered the jurisdictional declaration submitted through YouTube’s counter-notification process, finding that, prima facie, it was a standard-form condition imposed by the platform for contesting takedowns rather than a negotiated forum-selection agreement between the parties. Accordingly, the declaration could not, by itself, shift the forum of a dispute arising from activities undertaken in India.

The judge also warned that allowing the US proceedings to continue could subject conduct undertaken in India to foreign law while substantially the same dispute was awaiting adjudication before Indian courts, creating a risk of conflicting decisions.

Relying on principles established by the Supreme Court of India in Oil and Natural Gas Commission v. Western Company of North America (1987) 1 SCC 496, and the Delhi High Court’s earlier decision in HT Media Limited and Another v. Brainlink International, Inc. and Another (2020 SCC OnLine Del 1703), the court considered that the continuation of the US proceedings would be prima facie oppressive.

Weather footage and fair dealing considerations

The court also examined the underlying copyright allegations when assessing whether TV Today had established a prima facie case for interim protection.

It referred to its earlier decision in Associated Broadcasting Company Limited v. Google LLC and Others (2026 SCC OnLine Del 815), which concerned the use of weather footage in Indian news broadcasts and the application of the fair-dealing exception under Section 52(1)(a)(iii) of the Copyright Act.

In that decision, the Delhi High Court considered the use of brief, segmented extracts of weather footage within news narration and commentary, addressing the distinction between reporting natural events and reproducing protected audiovisual content.

The court also referred to the principle of de minimis non curat lex, under which trivial uses that cause no demonstrable prejudice or commercial harm may be considered legally insignificant.

In the present dispute, the court noted that the recordings appeared to have been used for only a few seconds within weather reports, rather than being presented as independent content or substitutes for the original recordings.

The allegations concerning the limited use of the footage remained uncontroverted at the interim stage because defendants 1–6 had not appeared or filed a response to TV Today’s application.

The court therefore considered that the broadcaster had established a prima facie case on the underlying copyright issues, without making a final determination of infringement or the applicability of the fair-dealing exception.

US proceedings restrained pending Indian litigation

Finding that TV Today had established a prima facie case, that the balance of convenience favored the broadcaster and that refusing protection could cause irreparable harm, the court granted the anti-suit injunction.

The order restrains Global Weather Productions and the five individual defendants, together with their agents and representatives, from continuing the proceedings before the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

It also prevents them from instituting or filing any suit, application or proceeding before a court or authority outside India concerning issues forming the subject matter of the Indian litigation.

The injunction will remain in force until the final disposal of the Indian suit.

However, the court emphasized that its observations were prima facie and did not constitute a final determination of the underlying copyright infringement allegations.

The case, T.V. Today Network Limited v. Global Weather Productions LLC and Others (CS(COMM) 738/2026), is scheduled to return before the Delhi High Court’s Joint Registrar (Judicial) on February 9, 2027.

The decision highlights the jurisdictional challenges facing international copyright enforcement through digital platforms. It also provides an important illustration of the distinction between accepting platform-mandated procedures to challenge content takedowns and agreeing to submit an underlying copyright dispute to the jurisdiction of a foreign court.

← Back to News