A Bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi held that television services offered in hotel rooms constitute a commercial facility and amount to “communication to the public” under the Copyright Act, 1957. Hotels must therefore obtain the necessary copyright licence and pay applicable royalties for protected literary and musical works.
The ruling came in an appeal filed by the Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS) against Hotel Appolo & Tours Private Limited.
IPRS had alleged that the hotel was making copyrighted literary and musical works available to its guests through television sets installed in its rooms without securing a licence or paying royalties.
The dispute began before the District Judge at Darjeeling, where IPRS sought an injunction against the hotel in 2023. The plea was rejected in September 2024, prompting the copyright body to approach the High Court.
The hotel argued that it had already paid subscription fees to its cable operator, which possessed the necessary broadcast rights. On that basis, it claimed that no separate payment to IPRS was warranted.
The High Court disagreed.
Examining the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, the Bench noted that a cable subscriber is a person who receives cable television signals at a specified premises without further transmitting those signals to another person.
Hotel guests, the Court said, do not fit that description merely because they watch television inside their rooms.
The Court also relied on the Copyright Act’s definition of “communication to the public”. The provision expressly covers cable or satellite transmissions reaching more than one household or residential place, including rooms in hotels and hostels.
The absence of a separate television charge for guests also did not alter the position.
According to the Court, television is an additional facility offered by the hotel and contributes to the commercial value of the accommodation. Whether guests are billed separately for that facility is therefore immaterial.
The Bench further pointed to Section 52(1)(k) of the Copyright Act, which provides a limited exception for certain uses of sound recordings in residential premises but specifically excludes hotels and similar commercial establishments.
As a result, the High Court set aside the District Judge’s earlier refusal to grant interim protection to IPRS.
It found that IPRS had established a strong prima facie case and that continued unauthorised use could result in irreparable harm. The hotel was consequently restrained from communicating or publicly performing works from the IPRS repertoire without the required licence and payment of the applicable statutory royalty.
The judgment makes clear that a hotel cannot treat copyrighted music and literary works broadcast through in-room television as merely part of a cable subscription. When the service is used as a commercial amenity for paying guests, copyright obligations can arise at the hotel level as well.
