LANDMARK HC STAY ORDER AGAINST COPYRIGHT ADMINISTRATOR

FIFA World Cup Broadcast, Other Cable Feed& Playing Of Recorded Music in Hotels & Restaurants Need No Additional Licenses

June, Mumbai: The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has welcomed the judgment of The Hon’ble Bombay High Court on Thursday restraining Novex Communication from obtaining license or payment of license fee in respect of any copyrighted works or broadcast reproduction rights. Café Leopold and Hotel Unicontinental had filed a suit in the Bombay High Court after receiving notices by Novex.

“We are pleased with the verdict.  This is a landmark order by the Hon’ble Bombay High Court with great ramifications. It is a victory not only for the hoteliers but also the large number of hotel guests and diners who visit restaurants for entertainment,” said Mr. D.S.Advani, President, HRAWI.

Earlier, Novex Communications Pvt Ltd had sent notices to hotels that Novex had been authorized to administer and grantPublic Performance Rights for various audio, musical compositions and sound recordings from the libraries of (1) M/s. Yash Raj Films Private Limited, (2) M/s. Shemaroo Entertainment Private Limited, (3) M/s. UTV Software Communications Limited and (4) M/s. Big Net Communications Private Limited, and that commercial establishments will have to pay them a license fee to play or telecast of such material.

“Contesting the notification, Café Leopold and Hotel Unicontinental had approached the High Court, which granting an ad-interim Injunction/Stay Order against Novex Communications, restrained it from making any demands for obtaining license or payment of license fee. The order also restrained collection of license fee on the broadcast reproduction rights of Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd./ MSM Discovery Pvt. Ltd which includes the channel SONY SIX on which the FIFA World Cup matches are being telecast,” said Mr. Pradeep Shetty, Chairman Legal Sub-Committee HRAWI.

Re-emphasizing the fact that Novex communication itself was undertaking illegal act he added, “the Association has always been of the view that Novex Communication has no authority to make any of the above demands, and the same are unlawful. The order of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court has vindicated the stand of the Association that Novex has been illegally carrying on the business of a copyright society without obtaining any registration under the Copyright Act, 1957, and has been making wrongful demands on hotels and restaurants across the country.”

“In so far as playing recorded music in the establishment is concerned, we have advised all our members to obtain appropriate licenses from the registered copyright society or the Copyright owner directly, as the case may be,” says Mr. Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice-President, HRAWI.

“As fordisplaying cable feeds at the establishment is concerned, our members have paid necessary fees to the Local Cable Operator/ DTH operator. They are part of the amenities or facilities being offered to the guests. Novex’s demand for additional license fees over and above the fees being paid to the cable operators is unjustified and illegal,” he added.

The exceptions to the rules of broadcasting at any commercial establishment are that, these establishment if are selling tickets or charging entry fee to display the cable feed such as the FIFA World Cup matches or if they are recording the cable feed and are playing the same at a later date, then they may be required to pay separate fees for the same.

“People go to restaurants or hotels to relax and generally have a good time and pay for services that we render. Watching a match, in the course of their stay or while enjoying their meals should not be something that should be commercially exploited. The order from the HC comes as a great relief to the entire hotel industry. For now, we are requesting all our members from refraining to pay any monies to Novex and have requested those who may have already paid any to inform us about the same for us to take further action,” concluded Mr. Kamlesh Barot, immediate past-President, HRAWI.

About Hotel & Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI)

The Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) is a 64 years old Association of Hotels and Restaurants in Western India. Its members include Hotels up to 5-Star Deluxe categories like The Taj, Trident, Hyatt, J.W. Marriott and The Leela who are some of the prominent members of our Association. With around 1300 members across Western India, HRAWI covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and the Union Territories of Daman, Diu &Silvassa is considered to be the voice of the Hotel Industry. The association is part of the national body of Federation of the Hotels & Restaurants Associations of India (FHRAI), located in New Delhi, which was originally founded in Mumbai in 1950 by the late Mr. J.R.D. Tata.