Section 31D lets a broadcaster use copyrighted music without the owner’s consent, on payment of royalties fixed by a tribunal. In 2020 the IPAB opened a consultation to fix those rates for radio. It never completed it.
The provision
Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957 has been a point of contention on many occasions, over both the issuing of statutory licences and the scope of who counts as a broadcaster.
In short: a broadcasting organisation wishing to communicate sound recordings, literary or musical works to the public may do so under a statutory licence, on giving prior notice and paying royalties to the copyright owner at rates then determined by the IPAB.
The internet broadcasting question
The scope point cannot be passed over. In Tips Industries v. Wynk Music, the Bombay High Court examined the intent of Section 31D and held it does not extend to internet broadcasting — reasoning that an exception to copyright must be construed strictly, and that the provision and rules contemplate radio and television, prescribing rates for those alone.
The consequence was that streaming services could not invoke the statutory licence, and Spotify among others had to negotiate rather than rely on Section 31D.
The consultation
Music Broadcast Ltd. and other radio broadcasters applied to invoke the section. Following those applications, the IPAB issued a public notice dated 18 September 2020, calling on interested parties to send suggestions on fixing royalties for communicating sound recordings to the public by radio broadcast, within 30 days.
Suggestions were open to copyright owners, broadcasting organisations, radio broadcasters and any interested persons, by email or post to the IPAB’s Delhi registry.
The open question at the time was what internet broadcasters such as Wynk and Spotify might submit — and whether the consultation could become a route to legitimising the DIPP office memorandum that had sought to bring internet broadcasting within Section 31D.
What happened
Neither outcome arrived through this consultation. The IPAB was abolished in April 2021 by the Tribunals Reforms Ordinance, roughly seven months after the notice, and before determining the royalties the applications sought.
The rate-setting function under Section 31D passed, with the IPAB’s other jurisdiction, to the High Courts. That is a substantial change in character: a specialist tribunal running a public consultation with industry-wide participation is a different mechanism from a court determining rates in proceedings between particular parties.
On the internet broadcasting question, Tips v. Wynk remains the governing authority, and streaming in India continues to run on negotiated commercial licences rather than statutory ones. The Copyright Rules have been amended since with a view to addressing modes of broadcast, and the issue stays contested between labels and platforms — but the DIPP memorandum was never vindicated by a court.
Why it matters
For radio broadcasters, the practical position is that statutory licensing under Section 31D is available, but the mechanism for fixing rates has moved to a forum less suited to industry-wide rate-setting than the tribunal originally designed for it.
For everyone else, this is a useful illustration of what tribunal abolition costs. The IPAB was widely and fairly criticised for dysfunction — but the functions it held were specialist and rate-setting, not merely adjudicatory, and those do not transfer cleanly to a court.
The takeaways
- Section 31D allows statutory licences on notice and payment of fixed royalties.
- The IPAB opened a consultation in September 2020 to fix radio rates.
- It was abolished in April 2021 before determining them.
- Internet broadcasting stays outside Section 31D after Tips v. Wynk.
Frequently asked questions
What is a statutory licence under Section 31D? A licence allowing a broadcasting organisation to communicate published works to the public without the owner’s consent, on giving prior notice and paying royalties at determined rates.
Who fixes the royalty rates now? The function passed to the High Courts following the abolition of the IPAB in April 2021.
Can streaming services use Section 31D? No — the Bombay High Court held in Tips Industries v. Wynk Music that the section does not extend to internet broadcasting.
Were the radio royalties ever determined by the IPAB? No — the tribunal was abolished before completing the process begun by its September 2020 public notice.
Useful official resources
- The Copyright Act, 1957
- Copyright Office, India