PHONOGRAPHIC PERFORMANCE LIMITED Vs. STATE OF GOA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issues raised in the petitions are decided by a common judgment. We refer to the facts in Writ Petition No.253 of 2024.

(2.) The petitioner Phonographic Performance Limited in this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks quashing and setting aside the impugned Circular dtd. 30/1/2024 issued by respondent No.1.

(3.) The petitioner is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The petitioner is one of the foremost organisations in the world which provides a 'single window' for consumers to get access to the petitioner's voluminous repertoire and was originally known as the Indian Phonographic Industry (IPI). The petitioner owns and/or controls the public performance rights of 400+ music labels, with more than 40 lakh international and domestic sound recordings. The petitioner is the copyright owner of the public performance rights in the sound recordings in its repertoire on the basis of assignment of the relevant copyrights in its favour by music labels who have assigned/licensed the said right. These assignors of the petitioner have executed an assignment deed under Sec. 18 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (Copyright Act for short) in respect of its sound recordings with the petitioner wherein they have assigned the public performance rights of the sound recordings to the petitioner and in view of the same, the petitioner is the owner/controller of the sound recordings to the extent of public performance of the same and therefore is exclusively entitled to grant licenses for communication to the public/public performance of its repertoire of sound recordings. The list of sound recordings in which the petitioner has copyright is available on petitioner's website (petitioner's copyrighted works), which provides express notice of petitioner's rights in the sound recordings to any user.