Digital copyright enforcement and the relevance of John Doe orders

The rapid advance of digital technology presents enormous opportunities for copyright creators as it expands their customer base, lessens distribution costs and almost nullifies territorial barriers. The flipside is that, unless regulated properly, it exposes copyrighted works to the threat of flagrant infringement across different mediums, including the internet. While copyrighted works have always been susceptible to threats of piracy, the ease with which the internet enables infringement, in a few seconds by a large number of users spread across different jurisdictions, is ominous.

Ensuring adequate copyright protection is a demanding challenge requiring innovative enforcement mechanisms that can effectively implement legal provisions. One such enforcement mechanism, employed extensively by India’s judiciary in recent times, is a stringently worded John Doe order covering both known and unknown defendants.

Role of John Doe orders

The anonymity that internet grants its users, coupled with its speed and reach, has created an industry propelled and sustained by copyright infringement. The beneficiaries of this illegal scheme often remain shrouded in mystery, and copyright owners may not be able to ascertain their identity even after spending time and money, or identification may be too late to be of any use. This is where John Doe orders prove to be an effective enforcement strategy.