Intermediary Liability And Safe Harbor Laws:
- IJLLR Journal
- Aug 13
- 2 min read
Intermediary Liability And Safe Harbor Laws: Balancing Tech Platform Responsibilities And User Rights - In Light Of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. V. Nykaa And The Expanding Role Of Meta As A Platform Intermediary
Prathamesh Chikhale, Chanakya National Law University, Patna
I. INTRODUCTION
The rise of social media platforms as a commercial space for branding and marketing has fundamentally evolved the scope of intellectual property laws and licensing rights. The Content and music, which at one time were preserved by Broadcasters and Traditional licensors with labels, are now circulated and accessed regularly in algorithmic corridors of Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The trending dispute between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (“Zee”) and Nykaa Fashion Private Ltd. (“Nykaa”) before the Delhi High Court triggers an issue that has been silently passing under the radar for years: when a commercial entity uses the copyrighted music made available through an intermediary platform’s native interface, who bears the responsibility for the resulting infringement? And, importantly, what is the legal position and liability of that platform, which is Meta Inc. In this case, that is silently facilitating such use.
A suit was filed by Zee in April 2026 at the Delhi High Court against Nykaa, a publicly listed fashion, beauty and lifestyle retailer, contesting that Nykaa has used multiple Zee’s copyrighted songs in Instagram Reels for promotional purposes without securing any required commercial license from Zee. Wherein the Zee’s Agreement with Meta permits only non-commercial, personal use of its Music catalogue on the platform. Further Nykaa on its part implead Meta as a necessary party, arguing that only Meta can authoritatively clarify whether Nykaa’s usage of Zee’s Songs breached its applicable license terms. Intrestingly none of the two parties has yet directly accused Meta of wrongdoing or any breach, but the Meta algorithmic music library remains the centre of the entire controversy.
This article critically examines the tripartite dispute through the lens of the intermediary liability under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”) and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules 2021”). It contends that Meta’s plays the role of an active facilitator, designing and deploying music discovery tools that conceal the commercial use restriction and therefore fundamentally challenge its entitlement to “safe harbor” protection under section 79 of the IT Act. Analysing similar instances and cases from India and abroad, the article analyses whether the platform that curates, recommends and algorithmically surfaces copyrighted content can continue to shield behind the passive safe harbor protection.
