DIGITAL PIRACY IN THE STREAMING ERA: THE FAILURE OF COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT IN INDIA

AUTHOR – JUHI SINGH, LLM STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – JUHI SINGH, DIGITAL PIRACY IN THE STREAMING ERA: THE FAILURE OF COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (4) OF 2026, PG. 915-925, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I485

ABSTRACT

The fast growth of streaming services has changed the way copyrighted content is distributed and consumed by turning the industry into one that is no longer based on ownership but access. But this change has been coupled with the simultaneous rise of digital piracy which is another and an illegal network of content delivery. The paper is a critical analysis of the impact of copyright enforcement in India in solving the problem of digital piracy in the streaming age.

It claims that the Indian legal system including the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 are very comprehensive in terms of binding statutory protection, but the enforcement mechanisms are still inadequate in structure. Piracy has continued due to not the lack of legalization, but to the technological asymmetry, the limitations of jurisdiction, and the responsive quality of the law. Dynamic injunctions and evolving interpretations of intermediary liability are judicial innovations that are flexible but do not give a systemic solution.

The article also emphasizes the fact that the accessibility and affordability of digital piracy are market determinants that perpetuate it as well as the enforcement gaps. It concludes that to ensure effective regulation, there should be a change towards an integrated approach comprising of legal reforms, technological enforcement and policy level interventions. In the absence of such adaptation, the copyright law can easily become irrelevant in the fast changing digital landscape.