6 days ago
Bengaluru Court Restores Instagram Account Suspended Over IPL Posts
A company used Instagram to tell people they could watch IPL matches at its resorts.
Instagram removed several posts and later suspended the company’s account over alleged trademark infringement.
The company said it only meant that guests could watch matches through authorized television services.
It denied helping anyone stream the matches illegally.
A Bengaluru court said the wording of the posts was unclear but seemed mainly intended to promote the resorts.
The court said the suspension may have followed a possible violation, but keeping the account suspended was too harsh.
It ordered Instagram and Meta India to restore the account and its data.
The company must follow Instagram’s rules and avoid similar content in the future.
A Bengaluru court ordered Instagram and Meta India to restore Qescapades’ @qexperiences account.
The account was suspended after posts promoting IPL match viewing at the company’s resorts.
Qescapades said the posts referred to authorized television broadcasts, not unauthorized streaming.
The court found the continued suspension disproportionate but did not declare it illegal.
Restoration includes the account’s content, followers, messages and business data, subject to platform rules.
- Who
- Qescapades Private Limited, Instagram Inc. and Meta India.
- What
- The court ordered restoration of Qescapades’ suspended Instagram account but did not rule that the suspension was illegal.
- Where
- The order was issued by the VIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court in Bengaluru.
- When
- The account was suspended on May 3; the restoration order was issued on August 22.
- Why
- The court found continued suspension disproportionate to the alleged IPL-related trademark violation, especially after Qescapades agreed not to repeat the conduct.
Qescapades’ Position
Instagram and Meta India’s Position
Meaning of the IPL posts
Qescapades’ Position
The posts were intended to tell guests that IPL matches could be watched at the resorts through authorized television and broadcasting services.
Instagram and Meta India’s Position
The posts allegedly infringed IPL-related trademark rights and promoted live streaming of IPL matches at the resort.
Intent and infringement
Qescapades’ Position
Qescapades denied intentionally infringing intellectual property rights or facilitating unauthorized streaming, describing any problematic wording as inadvertent.
Instagram and Meta India’s Position
Instagram and Meta India treated the posts as a policy or intellectual-property violation serious enough to warrant account suspension.
Appropriateness of continued suspension
Qescapades’ Position
Qescapades asked for reconsideration, undertook to follow platform rules and said the account was important to its business.
Instagram and Meta India’s Position
The defendants did not appear in court or respond to the company’s representation; the court ultimately found continued suspension disproportionate but did not declare it illegal.
Key facts
- Plaintiff
- Qescapades Private Limited
- Instagram account
- @qexperiences
- Posts at issue
- Promotions for IPL match viewing at Qescapades resort properties
- Suspension date
- May 3
- Court
- VIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, Bengaluru
- Restoration scope
- Account, associated content, followers, messages and business data
- Condition
- Qescapades must not post content violating platform terms, policies or guidelines
Quotes
Bengaluru court
The VIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Court, Bengaluru, presided over by Judge Vani A Shetty
“Even assuming that there was some violation, the continued suspension of the account is wholly disproportionate to the nature of the alleged violation, particularly when the plaintiff has undertaken that such conduct will not be repeated…”
indianexpress.com
“At this stage, this Court is unable to record a specific finding that there was any clear-cut infringement of any intellectual property right in the postings made by the plaintiff.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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