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Bid to block illegal streaming website rejected by Singapore High Court

Dramanice screenshot
Dramanice screenshot

The request by a Hong Kong-based pay-TV service operator to block website Dramanice for illegal streaming of Korean TV dramas was rejected by the Singapore High Court on Thursday (3 August).

Earlier in May, PCCW Media filed a suit in the High Court requesting for five Singapore Internet service providers (ISPs) – StarHub, Singtel, M1, MyRepublic and ViewQwest – to block illegal links to about 60 popular Korean dramas.

Since January last year, PCCW Media has been operating a subscription-based online streaming service called Viu, which streams popular Korean drama titles, as well as Thai, Chinese and Japanese shows.

Several titles that are available on Viu are also broadcast on StarHub and Singtel’s pay-TV platforms.

The High Court ruled that PCCW Media could not sue under Singapore’s Copyright Act because they do not own the copyright for the drama content.

‘Dramanice’ is among the top 7,000 global websites accessed daily, according to website ranking service Alexa. There are about 3,000 visitors from Singapore to the website daily.

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