Calcutta High Court orders hotels to secure IPRS licence for cable TV in rooms

The Calcutta High Court ruled that hotels must obtain a separate copyright licence from the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) before providing cable television to guests in their rooms. The bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi held that the cable operator’s licence does not cover the commercial use of copyrighted literary and musical works by hotels, and that guests cannot be treated as regular cable subscribers.

The decision arose from the case IPRS v. Hotel Appolo & Tours Private Limited, where the court affirmed that transmitting copyrighted works to hotel rooms constitutes “communication to the public” under the Copyright Act, 1957. The ruling requires hotels to pay royalties for the use of IPRS‑member works, reinforcing copyright compliance for hospitality providers.