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According to the PPL, while pubs and hotels mint money, thanks to the pre-Christmas and pre-New Year parties they organise, they are unwilling to pay the nominal licence fees to the PPL. Those served notices include The Food Pavilion at Sourav’s, Swabhumi, Tangerine Banquet and Aquatica. Under the statutory sanction of section 35 of the Indian Copyright Act, playing commercial music in public without paying the requisite licence fee is liable to contempt of court. Section 35 grants the PPL exclusive rights to issue licence to hotels/pubs for playing music during events at their respective establishments. “Music companies have a right towards claiming their due because their product is getting consumed too,” said Vipul Pradhan, CEO, PPL. “We have a record of the establishments that have not procured the licence. When somebody goes to procure a licence from the police, they are told to get a PPL licence too. Despite this, some people try getting away without paying,” said Sowmya Chowdhury of PPL. When contacted a representative at Sourav’s said that they were looking into the matter. “We don’t play music without a licence. We have a department which will surely sort out the matter,” said Neeraj Agarwal of Swabhumi.
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