YouTuber Mohak Mangal on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that he will remove the allegedly objectionable portions in his video about Asian News International, Bar and Bench reported.

His submission came after Justice Amit Bansal directed Mangal to take down the portions, observing that they contained defamatory language about the news agency.

The court was hearing a defamation suit filed by ANI against Mangal for posting the allegedly defamatory video accusing the news agency of extortion and blackmail. The suit also listed comedian Kunal Kamra and AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, among others, as defendants for sharing Mangal’s video on social media.

In his order, Bansal said that Mangal had agreed to put the video “in private mode and make the necessary amendments in the video so as to remove objectionable portions as indicated in the hearing”.

It added that the video may be uploaded again after the allegedly objectionable content was removed.

Earlier on Thursday, the court had said that the YouTuber should have put out his message in a more civilised manner and asked Mangal’s counsel to seek instructions on taking down the video.

In his video titled “Dear ANI” uploaded on Sunday, Mangal accused ANI of extortion and blackmail after the news agency initiated copyright strikes against his YouTube channel for using its footage in his material.

A copyright strike on YouTube takes place when the copyright owner claims that a video has used their content without permission. YouTube reviews the claim and, if valid, stops the creator from monetising it or removes the video. It also gives the uploader of the video a strike. Receiving three strikes can lead to a channel’s termination.

Mangal contended in his video that he had used the footage under the “fair use” principle, which is legal doctrine that is generally understood to allow limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the owner for purposes such as critiques, reviews or teaching.

Mangal’s video had 5.8 million views as of Thursday.

During the hearing on Thursday, advocate Amit Sibal, representing ANI, told the court that there had been unlawful publication of the news agency’s copyrighted content on YouTube, according to Bar and Bench.

Sibal added: “I [ANI] offered a license. They could have rejected my offer but to put pressure on me, defamatory material is put by them. This is in retaliation to my offer.”

The advocate alleged that Mangal had started a media campaign against ANI that had spiralled into a “concerted campaign”. This was vilifying and defamatory, he alleged. “They are calling me thugs, extortionist, gunda [goon], other expletives,” Bar and Bench quoted Sibal as having said.

The judge was also told that Mangal was earning money by not only using ANI’s videos but also posting the allegedly defamatory material.

“He has 4.2 million subscribers, he is using my content to earn money, they attract eyeballs,” Bar and Bench quoted Sibal as having argued. “He puts my registered trademark. I have placed transcription of a fake conversation with me, he states in minute letters that it is a recreation.”

The advocate also alleged that the social media posts by Kamra and Zubair appeared to be a “concerted effort” against ANI, adding that their attempt was “to put pressure” on the news agency. There were also calls to boycott ANI, he added.

Advocate Chander Lall, representing Mangal, accused ANI of not following due process. “If they have a grievance against me, they can’t call me and extort money from me that I will block your channel if you don’t pay,” Bar and Bench quoted Lall as having said.

Advocate Nakul Gandhi, also representing Mangal, said that the YouTuber’s channel would be terminated after three strikes and that he would not be able to open a new channel, Live Law reported.

In response, Live Law quoted Bansal as saying: “Your act and your video was premature.”

“Because there was no threat to your channel,” the judge said. “The onus of them to go to court. There was no occasion to make the disparaging video.”

Zubair also agreed to take down his social media posts about the matter, Bar and Bench reported. His counsel noted that the AltNews co-founder had made a civilised comment on the larger matter. However, he was willing to delete his remarks, the counsel added.

Kamra had initially agreed to only delete one of his several posts about the matter. His counsel argued that other posts were covered under the right to free speech. The comedian was commenting on a matter of larger public interest, the counsel added.

Bansal, however, said that the language was not palatable to the court, according to Bar and Bench.

Kamra agreed to delete the posts.

ANI’s suit

In its suit, ANI claimed that the video was an attempt to “discredit and insult” the news agency and the services it provides under its registered trademarks.

Mangal had admitted to using ANI’s original copyrighted videos to earn revenue, the news agency was quoted as having claimed in its suit, adding that the YouTuber had published the video filled with defamatory and damaging statements despite this.

The suit also alleged that Kamra, Zubair and others who had shared Mangal’s video on their social media accounts had “independently published further false, baseless and malicious statements targeting the plaintiff and its founders”.

ANI alleged that the statements were “devoid of any factual or legal foundation” and were intended to “malign” the reputation of the news agency in the eyes of the public.

The suit sought Rs 2.1 crore as damages.

In addition, it also sought a permanent and mandatory injunction against Mangal, including directions to take down the video, stop using ANI’s trademarks and refrain from publishing or circulating further “false, misleading or defamatory” content against the news agency.

It also sought similar restraining orders against Kamra, Zubair and others, preventing them from making or sharing defamatory and false statements about ANI.