MUMBAI: The copyright dispute between the Reliance-Disney joint venture and Zee Entertainment has been referred to mediation after both sides agreed to explore an amicable settlement.
Mint has seen the 5 May order passed by Justice Tejas Karia, which stated that “with the consent of the Parties, they are referred to mediation before the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre (DHCMCC), where they shall appear on 20 May”. Both sides have sought the appointment of a senior mediator.
Mint’s queries sent to Zee Entertainmentremained unanswered till press time. JioStar refused to comment.
Copyright claims
Zee sued JioStar and sought $3 million in damages, alleging unauthorized use and exploitation of works from its music division on the streaming platform and some of its television channels, Reuters reported.
The company has alleged that JioStar continued hosting and exploiting content containing Zee’s copyrighted works even after licensing agreements signed between the parties in 2017 and 2020 had expired.
The broadcaster also told the court that JioStar had itself proposed a one-month extension in November 2025 as a “precautionary measure” to cover inadvertent use of Zee’s content. However, Zee alleged that instances of infringement continued even after the extension expired.
The court directed JioStar to ensure that, within 15 days, it does not “use, publish, broadcast, stream, upload, make copies” of Zee’s copyrighted works over which Zee claims exclusive rights.
The matter will be next heard on 23 July.
JioStar owns a library of thousands of shows and broadcast rights for major sporting events across its television channels and streaming platform which has about 500 million monthly users. Zee, one of India’s oldest media companies, operates several television channels and a streaming platform. It says it owns a catalogue of more than 19,450 songs across 17 languages.
The dispute comes amid a broader push by Zee to enforce its music copyrights. The company has also sued fashion-to-beauty retailer Nykaa for allegedly using copyrighted songs in Instagram reels promoting its products.
Zee argued that while it has a licensing agreement with Meta Platforms allowing the use of music on Instagram posts for non-commercial purposes, Nykaa used the songs commercially to promote its products.
In November 2025, Reliance Industries and Walt Disney completed the $8.5 billion merger of their Indian media assets.
