ESPN plea: Unauthorised telecast of FIFA stayed

In its petition, ESPN sought injunction against the unauthorised telecast of the tournament on the ground that the channel enjoyed an exclusive deal with FIFA.

The Delhi High Court has restrained 92 cable operators across the country from unauthorised broadcasting the ongoing 2005 FIFA World Cup Football tournament being held in Germany following a petition from ESPN/Star Sports which claims to have exclusive rights over the telecast.

HT Image

Vacation judge Justice PK Bhasin, while restraining the unauthorised use of the soccer tourney telecast, directed ESPN to take the assistance of police in ensuring compliance of the court's order.

In its petition, ESPN sought injunction against the unauthorised telecast of the tournament on the ground that the channel enjoyed an exclusive deal with FIFA to telecast the matches throughout the territory of India.

According to Rajesh Kaul, Associate Vice President, Affiliate Sales, ESPN Software India Private Limited, no other channel whether pay, free to air or terrestrial was authorised to telecast the matches without the permission of ESPN.

He alleged that about 92 channels in the country were unauthorised broadcasting the matches by using wireless diffusion in violation of the copyrights enjoyed by ESPN.

The injunction order the company claimed would apply to all such cable operators in Tamil Nadu, Jharkand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam, Tripura, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Punjab.