Delhi HC Directs ShareChat & Moj To Remove Zee’s Content From Repositories

The Delhi High Court has directed social media platform ShareChat and short video platform MojApp to take down 134 film clips and recordings from their libraries as Zee Entertainment Enterprises holds rights the rights to these clips.

The order, issued earlier this month, resulted from a copyright dispute between Zee and Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd., the parent entity of ShareChat and Moj. Zee sought the elimination of its copyrighted material from the content repositories of ShareChat and Moj.

The court mandated that ShareChat and Moj must comply by February 4, 2024, which is scheduled as the next hearing date for the case. Importantly, the court specified that there is no injunction against the defendants for utilising cover versions, remixes, or user-generated content.

Zee claims to own copyright in various music recordings. While it entered into a licence agreement with Mohalla Tech in 2020, the latter was allowed to store the content in its library so that the content would be available to its users.

The agreement elapsed on July 14, 2023, and was not renewed thereafter. Mohalla contended that it removed Zee’s content from its library following the expiration of the agreement. In contrast, Zee said that its content is still present in Mohalla’s library, leading to a legal dispute.

Zee’s lawyers argued that the existence of Zee’s content in Mohalla’s library constitutes copyright infringement and a violation of the prior licensing agreement between the parties. To address this, the broadcasting company sought a temporary injunction to prevent the continued availability of Zee’s content on Mohalla’s website.

It also stated that Zee does not object to Mohalla using remixes or cover versions of Zee’s content, even if these contain some elements of the company’s copyright.

Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Singh, and Farid Ahsan, Mohalla Tech positions ShareChat as an Indic language social media platform. The startup closed its $520 Mn funding round at a valuation of $5 Bn in June last year.

It was reported last month that ShareChat was looking to raise $50 Mn in a fresh funding round. However, the social media unicorn may see a 55% valuation markdown, taking its valuation to $2.2 Bn to $2.8 Bn.

Mohalla Tech reported a 4.3X jump in its total revenue to INR 419.2 Cr during the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 80.4 Cr in FY21 on the back of a sharp jump in its operating revenue, as per regulatory filings.