Tips Industries Ltd. v. Wynk Music Ltd. 

The Cyber Blog IndiaCase Summary

Scope of the term 'fair use' in line with broadcast services covered under Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957

Tips Industries Ltd. vs. Wynk Music Ltd.
In the High Court of Bombay
Notice of Motion (L) 197-198/2018, Commercial Suit IP (L) 113-114/2018
Before Justice S.J. Kathawalla
Decided on April 23, 2019

Relevancy of the case: Scope of the term ‘fair use’ in line with broadcast services covered under Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957

Statutes and Provisions Involved

  • The Copyright Act, 1957 (Section 2, 14, 31, 31D, 52)

Relevant Facts of the Case

  • The defendant is an online music streaming platform. The plaintiff is the owner of the copyrighted music in question. 
  • They both had an agreement which expired and was not renewed. But the defendants kept hosting the contested sounds on their platform.
  • The plaintiff thus seeks a temporary injunction against the defendants for their recordings.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates 

  • The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the rental feature of the defendant’s platform was certainly for profit, not amounting to fair dealing. The counsel objected to the defendant’s invocation of Section 31D, stating that it is restricted to radio and television broadcasting services.
  • The defendant’s counsel argued that permitting a consumer to listen to recordings for personal use comes under fair dealing in Section 52 and, thus, does not infringe the plaintiff’s copyright. Section 31D protects the defendant, a broadcasting organisation that signed an agreement before 2012.

Opinion of the Bench

  • The defendant’s streaming service results in rental and sale, violating the plaintiff’s copyright.
  • Section 52(1)(b) applies to internet service providers and not the defendants. Section 31D does not include internet broadcasting. 

Final Decision

  • The balance of convenience lies in the favour of the plaintiff. The bench granted an interim injunction.

Parul Anand, an undergraduate student at the National Law University, Jodhpur, and Ojasvi Gupta, an undergraduate student at the Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, prepared this case summary during their internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.