JUDGMENT

S.B. Sinha, J. —

Leave granted.

INTRODUCTION

2. Interpretation of Section 31 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (for the sake of brevity, hereinafter referred to as, ‘the Act’) is involved in these appeals.

3. We may notice the factual matrix of the matter.

BACKGROUND FACTS

First respondent is one of the leading music companies engaged in the production and/or acquisition of rights in sound recordings. It has copyright over a series of cassettes and CDs commonly known as T-series. It has copyrights in cinematographic films and sound recordings. Appellant M/s. Entertainment Network (India) Ltd. (ENIL) broadcasts under the brand name “Radio Mirchi”. It is a leading FM radio broadcaster. Disputes and differences arose between Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd., the holding company of the first respondent and Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) as regards the playing of the songs of which copyrights belongs to the first respondent in their FM radio network. Appellant is a company which holds licence for running FM radio stations in various cities across India.

4. Free-to-Air private FM Radio Broadcasting is a recent phenomenon in India and the basic content of any radio station, presently, is o