The Hindu Business Line : Have licence to play music — Phonographic Performance warns hotels

IF you are planning to celebrate this festive season at one of the hotels or pubs offering customised packages for musical gala nights, it might just be prudent to check if the owners of the venue have paid up a licence fee to play music.

For Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), which has 127 member music companies, is planning to crack down on those restaurants that do not pay the fee.

The PPL has undertaken a national campaign spread over 10 cities, including all metros, where it shall obtain injunctions from the High Court against all defaulting venues if the licence fee is not paid. The organisation had initiated similar efforts last year too but has stepped up its efforts this year to counter this growing menace.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Vipul Pradhan, CEO, PPL, said, "In recent years, the trend of hiring DJs and organising song-and-dance nights has been on the rise. Not only are these extremely popular with all but the venues also rake in huge revenues due to such events. Except for the large hotel chains that have started paying up the licence fee, the smaller cafes and food outlets do not do so."

He said according to Section 35 of The Copyright Act 1957, playing commercial music without paying a copyright licence fee is an illegal act, liable for action under contempt of court. Section 35 grants PPL the authority to issue licences to hotels and pubs for playing music during the events or parties in their premises.

A hotel would have to pay a nominal tariff, between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000, as licence fee. The amount of the tariff depends on the number of hours the music is played for as well as the number of people expected to attend the event

Added Mr Sowmya Chowdhury, National Sales Manager-Events, PPL "The worst part of the situation is that even the end users, here the partygoers, are not aware of the losses caused to the Indian music industry due to this. While they pay for the music they enjoy, the actual owners, i.e. the music performers and the companies, get deprived of their rightful royalties."

Meanwhile, when contacted, officials at Leela Hotels and Radisson said the hospitality chains have been paying a licence fee to PPL.

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Have licence to play music — Phonographic Performance warns hotels