Legal Cases

IBCAP Members’ Lawsuits Against IPTV Services

IBCAP members actively protect their copyrights by taking legal action including lawsuits against unauthorized IPTV services and retailers selling those services. These legal actions have resulted in large monetary awards and court orders requiring unauthorized IPTV providers and their retailers and internet providers to cease promoting, selling, distributing, or supporting IPTV services found to infringe copyrights. Retailers, ISP’s, CDN’s, and domain name providers must comply with court orders resulting in removal of popular channels and in some cases full shutdown of the service.

Case	Judgment Amount	Injunctive Relief	Links to Orders
Fraifer Bankruptcy (Principal) Court: Bank. M.D. Fla. Filed: 6/22/22	Litigation ongoing	Litigation ongoing	385 – Suggestion of Bankruptcy 214 – Response to Creditor Dish Network’s Objection to Claim of Exemption for Account w JPMorgan Chase Bank
Datacamp/CDN77 (CDN) Court: N.D. Ill. Filed: 2/25/22	$3,000,000 Settlement Payment	Datacamp agreed to takedown procedure and repeat infringer policy	01 – Complaint 074 – Memorandum Opinion and Order 095 – Stipulation of Dismissal and Settlement Agreement
Desi TV (Provider) Court: E.D.N.Y. Filed: 10/14/21	Litigation ongoing	Litigation ongoing	01 – Complaint 045 – Request for Cert. of Default 052 – Order and Report and Recommendation
iStar IPTV (Provider) and Atlas Satellite (Retailer) Court: E.D. Mich. Filed: 9/21/21	$ 21,440,000.00	Atlas and Al-Emara were permanently enjoined from distributing, selling, providing, or promoting any product or service that infringes certain IBCAP member channels and any of the programming on those channels. Moreover, the order prohibits Atlas and Al-Emara from advertising, displaying, or marketing any set-top-box or service that infringes those channels or any programming on those channels.	01 – Complaint 01-1 – List of Exhibits to Complaint 01-2 – Exhibit 1 to Complaint 01-3 – Exhibit 2 to Complaint 026 – Judgment and Perm Injunction (Atlas Electronics and Al-Emara) 032 – Order Granting in Part DISH Network L.L.C.’s Motion for Default Judgment Against iStar Company and Karim
Nezar Hammo Bankruptcy (Retailer) Court: Bank. M.D. Fla. Filed: 8/20/21	See ATN case for damages	Defendants were enjoined from distributing, providing, selling, or promoting any product, or service, including ATN set-top boxes, apps, service subscriptions, and any other set-top boxes and television subscription services, that reproduce, copy, transmit, stream, distribute, or publicly perform any of the [IBCAP Member Channels at issue] or any of the programming that comprises or appears on any of the [IBCAP Member Channels at issue] in the United States.	01 – Adversary Complaint 01 – Voluntary Petition for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy 015 – Order of Discharge (not discharged from bankruptcy) 041 – Suggestion of Bankruptcy by Nezar Saeed Hammo 051 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
MyIndianTV (Provider) Court: E.D.N.Y. Filed: 8/10/21	$ 26,550,000.00	Defendants and their parents, subsidiaries, and affilites were permanently enjoined from enabling, assisting, or consulting with other persons or entities to enter into any agreement or transaction to sell, lease, license, assign, convey, distribute, loan, encumber, pledge or otherwise transfer, any part of the system, software, source code, data file, other technology, domain names, trademarks, brands, or files used in connection with the MyIndianTV service or any comparable service.	01 – Complaint 041 – Default Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Chitram TV (Provider) and Dinesh Vigneswaran (Distributor) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 3/16/21	$ 32,000,000	ChitramTV and its affiliates were enjoined from distributing certain IBCAP member channels or the works airing on those channels in the U.S. and distributing, selling, or promoting STBs, subscriptions, or services that provide access to IBCAP member channels or the works airing on those channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 040 – Default Judgment and Injunction Against Does 1-10 076 – Default Judgment and Injunction Against Vigneswaran 078 – Notice of Appeal (Vigneswaran); Dismissed due to failure to pay fee on 12/29/2022.
Elahmad.com (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 2/24/21	Litigation ongoing	Litigation ongoing	01 – Complaint 011 – Amended Complaint 026 – Amended Motion for Entry of Default and Default Judgment
ElafnetTV (Retailer) Court: M.D. Fla. Filed: 10/14/20	$ 16,050,000.00	Defendants were enjoined from distributing, providing, selling, or promoting any product, or service, including ATN set-top boxes, apps, service subscriptions, and any other set-top boxes and television subscription services, that reproduce, copy, transmit, stream, distribute, or publicly perform any of the [IBCAP Member Channels at issue] or any of the programming that comprises or appears on any of the [IBCAP Member Channels at issue] in the United States.	01 – Complaint 01-1 – Exhibit A to Complaint 041 – Suggestion of Bankruptcy 075 – Order 082 – Judgment (count 1) 051 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Universe IPTV (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 8/24/20	$ 7,050,000	All hosting companies, CDNs, social media companies, and email providers were enjoined from providing services that support the defendants’ enjoined activities. This includes an order specifically directing the disabling of 10 IP addresses used by Universe IPTV. The Court also enjoined all defendants and their distributors and retailers from transmitting the channels at issue in the United States or distributing, providing, selling, or promoting the Universe IPTV service in the United States.	01 – Complaint 010 – Amended Complaint 041 – Judgment and Permanent Injunction 042 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Super Arab IPTV (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 5/13/20	$ 2,100,000.00	Dealers and distributors were enjoined from selling the Super Arab service, ordering hosting providers to disable certain IP addresses used by Super Arab, ordering registries and registrars to disable current and future domains used by Super Arab, and enjoining CDNs and other infrastructure providers used in connection with the Super Arab service.	01 – Complaint 054 – Order Granting in Part Motion for Default Judgment against Shenzhen Jiemao Technology Co., Ltd. 061 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Jadoo Bankruptcy (Provider) Court: Bank. N.D. Cal. Filed: 1/9/20		Civil case is ongoing, but owner and CEO will not be permitted to hide behind a corporate shield and has been found personally liable for the damages caused by his and his company’s copyright infringement.	022 – Second Order with Respect to Relief from Stay Motion and Motion for Preliminary Injunction 024 – Notice of Voluntary Dismissal of Adversary Proceeding
FreeTVAll Websites (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 11/21/19	$ 16,800,000	An injunction against the owner of the infringing websites, a transfer of 15 domains including freetvall.com, and an injunction extending to use of non-party service providers such as website hosts and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).	01 – Complaint 08 – Amended Complaint 021 – Final Default Judgment
Easybox (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 8/12/19	$ 9,900,000	Defendants were permanently enjoined from distributing certain IBCAP member channels in the U.S. and from selling Easybox STBs or IPTV subscriptions that stream the IBCAP member channels. Third-party providers may not provide any services to defendants related to their transmitting copyrighted shows. Registries disabled the domain names used to transmit the channels within 48 hours of this order.	01 – Complaint 022 – Entry of Default 028 – Default Judgment and Injunction
East IPTV (Provider) and Serverlogy Corp. (CDN) Court: D. Del. Filed: 7/8/19	$ 2,700,000	Registrars were ordered to transfer the service’s domains and any future domains used to infringe were disabled. The East IPTV service has been shut down as a result of the court order.	01 – Complaint 012 – Easybox IPTV’s First Amended Complaint 012-1 – Exhibits to First Amended Complaint 038 – Serverlogy’s First Amended Complaint 063 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Tarboosh TV (Provider) Court: E.D. Va. Filed: 5/3/19	$ 2,400,000	Defendant and his affiliates were permanently enjoined from reproducing, copying, transmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S. any of the Protected Channels or any programming that comprises or appears on the Protected Channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 022 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction
East West Audio Video (Retailer) Court: C.D. Cal. Filed: 11/20/18	$ 500,000	Defendants and their affiliates were permanently enjoined from reproducing, copying, transmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S. any of the Protected Channels or any programming that comprises or appears on the Protected Channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 055 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction – East West Audio Video and Punit Bhatt
Jadoo TV (Provider) and Sajid Sohail (Principal) Court: N.D. Cal. Filed: 11/20/18	Litigation ongoing	Litigation ongoing	01 – Complaint 159 – Order Reassigning Case 194 – Amended Complaint 207 – Order Denying Motion to Dismiss 270 – Order Granting DISH Motion for Summary Judgment, Denying Sohail Motion for Summary Judgment
Shava Canadian Action (Provider) Court: Ontario Superior Court of Justice Filed: 8/1/18	$ 26,130,000.00	Defendants Imran Butt and Naeem Butt were permanently enjoined from further infringing on Plaintiffs’ exclusive rights in their copyrights and trademarks.	Order Recognizing US Judgment Order Finding Defendants in Contempt of Court Sentence for Contempt
Goyal Group (Distributor and Retailers) Court: E.D.N.Y. Filed: 7/3/18	$ 2,160,000	Defendants and any affiliates were enjoined from reproducing, copying, transmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S., any of the Protected Channels or any programming that comprises or appears on the Protected Channels; distributing, providing, selling, or promoting any product, or service, including Shava TV STBs and television subscription services and any other STBs and television subscription services, that reproduce, copy, transmit, stream, distribute, or publicly perform any of the Protected Channels or any of the programming that comprises or appears on any of the Protected Channels in the U.S., unless authorized by DISH in a written agreement.	01 – Complaint 045 – First Amended Complaint 069 – Final Judgment – Rana Technology and Mohammad Rana 070 – Final Judgment – Goyal Group and Chandra Goyal 071 – Final Judgment – ABC 1 NYC Inc., RS NYC 1, ABC Wireless 2, Bhalla, Sangpo, Lomanthang
Spider TV (Provider) Court: D. Md. Filed: 5/2/18	$ 1,800,000	Defendants and their affiliates were permanently enjoined from reproducing, copying, transmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S., by means of any device or process, any of the Protected Channels; distributing, providing, or promoting any product or service, including Spider-TV STBs and service plans, that comprises the whole or part of a network or service for reproducing, copying, transmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing any of the Protected Channesl or any of the programming that comprises or appears on any of the Protected Channe,ls, among other requirements.	017 – Amended Complaint 023 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction – Dima and Yusif 042 – Report and Recommendation 043 – Order Adopting Report and Recomendation Granting Motion for Default Judgment [042]
Ellas TV (Provider) and Mario Pappas (Principal) Court: N.D. Ill. Filed: 3/12/18	$ 700,000	Attorney fees granted, injunction not specified in order granting summary judgment.	01 – Complaint 035 – Order Granting Summary Judgment 040-1 – Permanent Injunction 041 – Order Granting Attorneys Fees
Tiger Star (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 12/29/17	$ 1,200,000	Defendants and their affiliates were permanently enjoined from copyring by any means of any device or process the Protected Channels or any of the programming that comprises the Protected Channels; retransmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S., by menas of the Tiger Star service, or any other device or process, the Protected Channels or the programming that comprises the Protected Channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 024 – Judgment and Injunction 029 – Order Granting Motion for Contempt
BTV (Provider) Court: S.D.N.Y. Filed: 9/13/17	$ 6,600,000	Defendants were permanentlly enjoined from distributing, selling, advertising, marketing or promoting any BTV Device, and/or comparable system that makes any infringing BTV Apps, any retransmission services or Plaintiffs’ copyrighted programming available to users of that device or comparable system, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 064 – Default Judgment and Permanent Injunction Order – Dibia Networks and Abdellah Hamead
Crown IPTV (Provider) Court: E.D.N.Y. Filed: 8/25/17	$ 8,250,000	Defendants were permanentlly enjoined from distributing, selling, advertising, marketing or promoting any Crown TV Device or comparable system that makes any infringing Crown TV Apps, any retransmission services or Plaintiffs’ copyrighted programming available to users of that device or comparable system, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 039 – Report and Recommendation 043 – Memorandum and Order
Amit Bhalla Bankruptcy (Retailer) Court: Bank. M.D. Fla. Filed: 8/18/17	$ 4,440,000	Bhalla and his affiliates were permanently enjoined from distributing, selling, advertising, marketing, or promoting any Tvpad Device; transmitting, retransmitting, assisting in the transmission of, requesting transmisison of, streaming, hosting, or providing unauthorized access to or otherwise publicly performing, Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming, among otehr requirements.	072 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction 073 – Memorandum and Order Awarding 4.4M to Plaintiffs – no discharge
ZemTV / Durrani (Distributor) and Lackman (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 5/30/17	$ 650,000	Defendant Durrani and his affiliates were permanently enjoined from copying by any means of any device or process the Protected Channels or any of the programming that comprises the Protected Channels; retransmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the US.., by means of ZemTV or add-ons or services, the Protected Channels or the programming that comprises the Protected Channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 010 – Amended Complaint 048 – Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal – Lackman 054 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction – Durrani 048-1 – Order of Dismissal – Lackman
UlaiTV (Provider) and Fraifer (Principal) Court: M.D. Fla. Filed: 3/15/17	$ 1,300,000.00	Fraifer, his companies, their agents and others acting or participating with any of them were prohibited from publicly performing in the United States any works that air on certain Arabic-language channels.	062 – Amended Complaint 259 – Judgment in Favor of DISH Network L.L.C. 372 – Judgment 337 – Memorandum of Decision 370 – Permanent Injunction 394 – Report and Recommendation
Lool (Provider) Court: S.D. Tex. Filed: 6/20/16	$ 1,050,000	Defendants and their officers, agents, employees, etc. were enjoined from copying the IBCAP member channels or any programming that comprises the subject channels; retransmitting, streaming, distributing, or publicly performing in the U.S., by means of the Loolbox service, or any device, the subject channels, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 025 – Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction 040 – Order Granting Attorneys Fees and Costs [on 036]
h.TV (Provider) Court: E.D.N.Y. Filed: 3/25/16	$ 46,140,000	Defendant HTV International Limited and its officers, agents, and employees were permanently enjoined from publicly performing, publicly displaying, transmitting, distributing, and/or reproducing CCTV and/or TVB television programming, including Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming; inducing, encouraging, causing, facilitating, and/or materially contributing to the unauthorized public performance, public display, transmission, distribution, and/or reproduction by others of CCTV and/or TVB television programming, including Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programing, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint w Exhibit A 07 – Amended Complaint 082 – Final Judgment 086 – Amended Judgment
Buy-Rite (Commercial Public Performance) Court: S.D.N.Y. Filed: 12/4/15	$ 200,000	Defendants and their affiliates were permanently enjoined from transmitting, retransmitting, assisting in the transmission of, requesting transmission of, streaming, hosting or providing unauthorized access to, or otherwise publicly performing by means of any device or process in violation of U.S. copyright law, including but not limited to any TVpad Device or comparable system, Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming, without direct or indicrect authorization of the plaintiff that owns or controls that programming, advertising or promoting access to or availability of Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming, encouraging or soliciting others to transmit or reporduce Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 01-1 – Exhibit A to Complaint 020 – Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction
Shava IPTV and Cres IPTV (Provider) Court: E.D. Va. Filed: 6/5/15	$ 25,775,000	Defendants Imran Butt and Naeem Butt were permanently enjoined from further infringing on Plaintiffs’ exclusive rights in their copyrights and trademarks.	01 – Complaint 102 – Permanent Injunction Against Nadeem and Shava IPTV Network 124 – Judgment Order
TVpad (Provider) Court: C.D. Cal. Filed: 3/13/15	$ 69,566,000	Defendants and their affiliates were permanently enjoined from transmitting, retransmitting, assisting in the transmission of, requesting transmission of, streaming, hosting or providing unauthorized access to, or otherwise publicly performing by means of any device or process, the Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Programming, among other requirements.	01 – Complaint 107 – Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction – newTVpad and Lianzhong Zhou 175 – Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction – Hugo Chen 182 – Consent Judgment and Permanent Injunction – Bennett Wong and Club TVpad 198 – Amended Order – Final Judgment 207 – Default Judgment and Injunction Against Asha Media Group