Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the owners of copyrights on musical works are compensated for certain uses of their work. A purchaser has limited rights to use the work without a separate agreement.
Business units do not have the authority to play music in public places for any commercial purpose without acquiring a Music License. Copyright Act, 1957 made it mandatory for all the cafes, restaurants, hotels, pubs, bars, that play pre-recorded music on their premises, to obtain a music license.
Music License is a procedure of taking permission for approval, validation & protection of musical work. u/s 2 (p) of Copyright Act, 1957 defines the ‘musical work’ as ‘a work consisting of music & includes any graphical information of such work but does not comprise any words or any act intended to be spoken, sung, or performed with music’.
Any business who wants to play pre-recorded music in their premises should acquire music license to avoid any forfeit. Business unit can be a hotel, restaurant, pubs, events, malls, cinema halls, sports events, product launch, aircrafts or any other place where music is played.