RIAA (Recording Industries Association of America)
has made news for itself with the aggressive pursuance of Copyright on music in
America. Its exploits with Naspter and MP3 downloads are too well known to need
reiteration. However, it is not clear if RIAA's approach is good for the music
industry in the long run since in principle RIAA is targetting its own potential
customers and often with unreasonable demands.
A manifestation of this culture now appears to be
on view in India where PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd), a copyright society
appears to have moved courts in Chennai and obtained an injunction against a few
hotels so that they will not play music during new year parties without a
specific license from them.
PPL is a registered copyright
society under Indian Copyright Act 1957 and has the authority to
administer the Broadcasting / Telecasting and Public Performance Rights on
behalf of a its members.
Consequently, any performance
of Indian or International music from Sound Recordings of PPL members in
Public Places or Commercial Establishments constitutes an Infringement
of copyright under Indian Copyright Act 1957 which includes Cognizable &
Non-bailable offence.
At present, PPL administers
the rights on behalf of about 127 recording companies, which are its members.
PPL members include HMV (Sa Re Ga Ma India), Tips, Universal, Venus, Sony
Music, Magnasound, BMG Crescendo, Virgin, Milestone, Times Music and others.
Its scope includes, telecom
related licenses such as Ring Tones, Music Messaging, IVRS and other Telecom
value added services involving the usage of music and also internet, radio and
public performance licenses.
The public performance
licencing covers whole range of activity from playing of music in cinema
halls, hotels, restaurants etc. as indicated by the table below.
PPL licensing includes a
system of reporting ".. to provide data, on electronic reporting formats where
possible, listing each work performed by the licensee, the title, the
duration, the labels using standard ISRC codes, where possible." The
reporting itself could be a source of great irritation to music users since it
could itself be source for disputes.
At present, the members of PPL include:
|
AB Corp Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Accord Music Corporation |
Mumbai |
|
Aditya Music (India)
Pvt. Ltd. |
Hyderabad |
|
Amicron Magnetics |
New Delhi |
|
Antariksh Waves |
Chandigarh |
|
Archies Greetings &
Gifts Ltd. |
New Delhi |
|
Asha Audio Company |
Kolkata |
|
Atlantis Music |
Kolkata |
|
Audio Touch Music Corp. |
Ludhiana |
|
Baba Entertainment Ltd.
|
Mumbai |
|
Berry Music House |
Kolkata |
|
Bharat Film Distributors |
Chennai |
|
Bharti Record & Musical
Products |
Kolkata |
|
Bhavana Record &
Cassettes |
Kolkata |
|
BMB Music Pvt. Ltd.
|
Mumbai |
|
Brijwani Cassettes
|
New Delhi |
|
Catrack Entertainment
Limited |
Chandigarh |
|
CD Music Cassette Company
|
Chandigarh |
|
Cheema Music Co.
|
Chandigarh |
|
Chitra Records
|
Kolkata |
|
Choice Audio
|
Ludhiana |
|
Cine Trading Corp. (C.T.C)
|
Ludhiana |
|
Citizen Cassette Co.
|
Ludhiana |
|
Concord Records Ltd.
|
Kolkata |
|
Crescendo Music Private
Limited |
Mumbai |
|
Das Entertainment Pvt.
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Desi Tune |
Ludhiana |
|
Dhaliwal Productions |
Mohali |
|
Digital Records Pvt.
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Dr. K.J. Yesudass Audio
& Visuals Corpn. Ltd. |
Chennai |
|
Dreams Audio
|
Kolkata |
|
Eagle Ent. (P) Ltd |
Jalandhar |
|
Empire Recording Co. |
Bangalore |
|
FC Global Music
|
Mumbai |
|
Ganpati Music
|
Kapurthala |
|
Genesis Records |
Kolkata |
|
Hasrat Records |
Kapurthala |
|
Hittan Cassettes |
Jalandhar |
|
Honey Audio Cassettes |
Ludhiana |
|
Indu Electronics |
Chennai |
|
Innovative Live Music |
Chandigarh |
|
K2 Records (P) Ltd. |
Jalandhar |
|
Kalaippuli International
Audio |
Chennai |
|
Kriya FMCG Distributors
Pvt Ltd. |
Chennai |
|
Laurel Entertainmet |
Mumbai |
|
Leo Audio Video Pvt.
Ltd. |
Vijayawada |
|
Living Media India Ltd. |
New Delhi |
|
Madras Recording Co.
|
Chennai |
|
Magnasound India Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Mahavir Melodies |
Mumbai |
|
Maple Films Ltd |
Kolkata |
|
Mayur Cassettes (P )
Ltd. |
Kolkata |
|
Media Masters
International |
Chandigarh |
|
Melody Recording Corner |
Kottayam |
|
Milestone Entertainment
Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Mukta Arts Limited |
Mumbai |
|
Muse Music Co. |
Ludhiana |
|
Music Box Ent. Co. |
Chandigarh |
|
Music Master Audio &
Video Mfg. Co. (P) Ltd. |
Chennai |
|
Musico Marketings Pvt.
Ltd.. (P) Ltd. |
Chandigarh |
|
N. B. Sen & Bros. |
Kolkata |
|
N. V. Enterprises |
Bangalore |
|
Natraj Music Co. |
Chandigarh |
|
Pal Music Co. |
Chandigarh |
|
Pan Music & Magazines
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Phat Phish Records |
Mumbai |
|
Plus Channel India Ltd.
|
Mumbai |
|
Prime Music Pvt. Ltd |
Kolkata |
|
R.D. Music Co. |
Ludhiana |
|
Raja Cassettes Recording
Pvt. Ltd. |
Chennai |
|
RDX Music Ent. Company |
Chandigarh |
|
Royal Music Company |
Mumbai |
|
Rythem India Cassettes |
Kolkata |
|
S.B Electronics
|
Kolkata |
|
S.K Audio Vision |
Sikkim |
|
S.M.I. Music Co. |
Ludhiana |
|
Sagarika Music Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Sahiba Music |
Chandigarh |
|
Sakti Engineering Co. |
Vijayawada |
|
Sam Music International
|
Mumbai |
|
Saregama India Ltd. |
Kolkata |
|
Satyam Audios |
Cochin |
|
SEA Records |
Chennai |
|
Shashi Films (P) Ltd. |
Chandigarh |
|
Shine Music Company |
Mohali |
|
Shree Krishna
International |
Mumbai |
|
Silver Beats Music (P)
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Sohal Audio. Co. |
Ludhiana |
|
Sohan Music |
Hyderabad |
|
Sonotone Electronics
Pvt. Ltd. |
New Delhi |
|
Sony BMG Music
Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Sound Wing |
Kolkata |
|
Stereovision
|
Vijayawada |
|
Sterling Recordings Pvt.
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Sun Music Co. |
Ferozepur |
|
Super Audio (Chennai)
Pvt. Ltd. |
Chennai |
|
Surya Recording Company |
Vijayawada |
|
Team Music Entertainers |
Mohali |
|
The Master Recording
Company |
Chennai |
|
The Megaphone Company |
Kolkata |
|
Theme Music |
Kolkata |
|
Thukral Manufacturing
Co. (T.M.C.) |
Phagwara |
|
Time Magnetics (India)
Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Times Music |
Mumbai |
|
Ting Ling Entertainers |
Ludhiana |
|
Tips Industries Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Top Cassettes Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Ultra Movie Channel Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Umang Audio |
Chandigarh |
|
United Music |
Mumbai |
|
Universal Music India
Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Uphonic Cassettes & Records |
Hoogli |
|
Vatsa Entertainment Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Velvet Voices Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Venus Records & Tapes
Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Vertax Enterteiners |
Chandigarh |
|
Vijay Radio & Gramophone
Company |
Kolkata |
|
Vikram Enterprises |
Bangalore |
|
Virgin Records (India)
Pvt. Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Vital Records |
Ludhiana |
|
Wajeda Music |
Mumbai |
|
Weston Components Ltd. |
Mumbai |
|
Wings Music Company |
Mumbai |
|
Zee Records |
Mumbai |
Will PPL endear itself to the music industry by
hoisting cases against college students and curb copyright infringement in
India? or will it only succeed in driving music lovers away from
music?.....we need to wait and see.
In the mean time, it is preferable for music
users to remember that when they buy records of any of the above labels, they may be actually
buying trouble.
It is also necessary for all sellers of the
above labels to prominently notify the buyers that the purchase of these records
are subject to the conditions imposed by PPL. Any suppression of this
information at the time of sale would be deemed as an unfair business practice
aimed at trapping innocent members of the public to litigation for profit.
Naavi
December 29, 2005
Related Articles:
HC order may tone down New Year bash in hotels
Shopping mall owners not in tune with high rates of playing music
Facing
The Music
Outrage over digital licence that makes DJs ‘pay for songs twice’
Website
of PPL
(Comments Welcome)
