The Calcutta High Court has ruled that hotels must obtain a proper copyright licence before providing cable TV services containing copyrighted works to guests in their rooms. According to The Bar Bulletin report,the court held that offering such content without permission from copyright owners amounts to copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, 1957.

The ruling came in the case of Indian Performing Right Society Limited vs Hotel Appolo & Tours Private Limited, where the court observed that hotel guests cannot be treated as regular cable subscribers. Since the cable connection was being used as a facility for paying hotel guests, the hotel was required to obtain a separate licence from the copyright owner.

The division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi noted that communication of copyrighted works through cable to hotel rooms is considered a public communication under Section 2 of the Copyright Act.

The court also clarified that a cable operator’s licence does not cover commercial use of content by hotels. Providing television facilities as part of hotel services adds commercial value to the business and requires compliance with copyright rules.

The matter was filed by the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), which argued that the hotel was using literary and musical works belonging to its members without paying the required royalty. The High Court restrained the hotel from using such works without obtaining a valid licence.