The Delhi High Court, in two writ petitions1 filed by
Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), a registered company
dealing with sound recordings and broadcasting, ruled on a long
saga between copyright societies and the Registrar of Copyrights
("Registrar"). Copyright societies are legal bodies
created under the Copyright Act, 1957 to protect the interests of
authors and artists from exploitation by publishers and potential
infringers by providing them a better bargaining power to monetize
their creative works. Their primary functions include management of
royalties and regulation of issuance of licenses on behalf of
owners of creative works.
The writs trace their roots to the Copyright (Amendment) Act,
2012 ("Amendment Act") that brought about some changes in
the functioning and registration of copyright societies.
Pertinently, the Amendment Act mandated all copyright societies to
file for re-registration with the Registrar within one year from
the commencement of
