Pocket FM Alleges Copyright Infringement By Kuku FM Again

Over two-and-a-half years after ending a legal scuffle, audio OTT player Pocket FM and Kuku FM are engaged in yet another courtroom showdown.

Pocket FM has dragged its competitor to the Delhi High Court alleging repeated copyright infringement of its intellectual properties. The former is seeking damages to the tune of $10 Mn (INR 85.7 Cr) from the latter. 

The civil case was registered on July 9 under allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights relating to registered and unregistered trademarks. These properties are five audio series, including Pocket FM’s Immortal Warrior (pertains to Immortal Yoddha on Kuku FM), Vashikaran on Pocket FM (same name on Kuku FM), Insta Empire (same on both), among others. 

In the first hearing of the case today, Justice Saurabh Banerjee of the Delhi HC directed Kuku FM to not release any further episodes of the five series in question until the next date of hearing. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for August 29. 

The court has asked Kuku FM to submit written responses to the allegations in two weeks.

In the court today, Pocket FM’s counsel Anil Sibal argued that Kuku FM’s wilful and intentional use of popular Pocket FM’s show titles is a deliberate attempt to copy his client’s content. 

“All of this is clearly systematised infringement. It cannot be that show after show you have a production line of clones by the defendant. And clearly, they have an elaborate system digitally whereby they accomplish infringement on this massive scale,” the counsel said.

Meanwhile, Kuku FM alleged that the legal action by its larger competitor comes at a time when it is looking to raise funds to fuel its future growth. 

Notably, this is Pocket FM’s second legal case against its competitor this year. Most recently, it filed a case against Kuku FM before the Delhi HC in May for piracy of its show “Insta Millionaire”. 

In this regard, Sibal said, “The last suit that is currently pending before this court, where an order of injunction was passed on May 30, was a case where they copied my show as-is, bodily lifted, so much so that on their site, at the end of each episode it says “aage ki kahani jaane ke liye, log in kariye Pocket FM par” – on the defendant’s website”

The two startups have been regularly at loggerheads with each other. Last month, Kuku FM’s founder Lal Chand Bisu took to social media platform X to allege that the competitor is undertaking a social media smear campaign against the company. 

“This is the standard of my competitor founders. Playing completely dirty games! They still think they can beat the competition through fake PR and paid Twitter trends,” the founder’s post read. 

Back then, sources within Kuku FM confirmed to Inc42 that it was looking to raise $70 Mn (INR 600 Cr) in a fresh funding round, which would be led by Granite Asia. 

The last time the duo dueled in the courtroom in 2023 Kuku FM entered into a settlement agreement with its competitor and agreed to pull down the content whose exclusive right is held by Pocket FM.

Meanwhile, outside of the legal tussle with Kuku FM, Pocket FM is currently dealing with a suite of cases. In May 2025, Inc42 reported that Pocket FM was facing multiple lawsuits in the US, where about 11 “independent contractors” alleged that it circumvented a number of US statutes and laws related to the classification of workers, wage provisions and working conditions. 

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