Weddings and Film Music

In our country no Wedding Function is complete without playing Filmy Songs, whether it is Hindi film songs or regional film songs. Few years back the Copyright Act was passed by the Parliament, and it gave the copyright companies of the songs to collect licensing fees if the songs are played in some function.  That time, when the act was passed the music played at the weddings was exempted from the copyright act, which  was not liked by the owners of the film songs and now they have approached the courts, and this issue has gone into legal limbo, as along standing exemption from music licensing requirements now faces an uncertain future.

The dispute is over the interpretation of the Copyright Act 1957, pitting the hospitality industry against private copyright companies, These are essentially music licensing companies that collect royalties, asking venues to pay for the right to publicly play their licensed music.

Section 52(1)(za) of the Copyright Act 1957, however explicitly exempts “ the performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work” during “a marriage procession or social festivities associated with marriage” from copyright infringement.

The Department of Promotion of the Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had issued a public notice in 2023, clarifying that hotels and wedding organizers do not need to obtain music licenses from copyright companies for these events.

This interpretation, however, has now been challenged in a court by a copyright company.

As per the President of one city’s  Hoteliers Association “ Clients are already spending significant money on hotels, food, and other arrangements. Now, private companies that own copyrights for various music labels have started approaching us again and demanding licensing fees music played during wedding-related functions. Guests are told to pay hefty fees for these licenses depending upon on the number of attendees despite the law clearly exempting such functions”.

As per the DPIIT official “ There is an exception under the Copyright Act for weddings, but the issue arises in the interpretation of this provision”. The provision was challenged in court. As a result, pending the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision, all these issues of licensing fees are cropping up. As the matter is now sub judice, hence this problem.

This has left wedding planners and venue owners in a lot confusion.

The licenses like PPL, IPRS and Novex are required for playing music at parties in a hotel. ( These are the companies which holds the music rights for various music companies)

PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd) license- This license allows you to play sound recordings from various music labels. The cost varies  based on factors like type of establishment, number of attendees, and music usage.

You will need to obtain permission from the copyright rights holder before any public performance or communication of sound recordings as per the Copyright Act 1957.

Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) License- IPRS typically issues license for musical works, including lyrics and compositions.

In February 2024, the Bombay High court gave a judgment that could pave the way for royalties for playing  music at weddings, restaurants, and other public places by upholding the authority of PPL and Novex Communications as copyright owners.

Implementing this verdict poses a challenge due to the sheer scale and geographical expanse of such events. Moreover, the verdict’s scope is somewhat limited, and certain aspects are still unresolved in this matter.

The Ministry of Commerce has already established a committee, led by singer Anup Jalota, to address the matter with all the involved parties and establish plausible, coherent working dynamics that are acceptable to everyone.

In the end the issue has not been resolved till date. In my opinion the licensing companies wants to charge the license fees for music being played/ or performed at venues such as club, hotels and open air venue. The problem is these kind of venues also hold wedding functions, which government wants to exempt from Copyright Act. There is one big difference between wedding and other functions where music is played, and the difference is at the other functions the attendees pay the entrance fees to participate/attend in such functions, but at the wedding functions the attendees are just guests as they are not paying any entrance fees for attending the wedding function. Hence, I feel, government is right in exempting wedding function, where music is played in background, and it is not played for commercial purpose.

Please do write your opinion in the comments section, at the end of the blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

2^nd December 2024