File picture of a musical event in the capital

Bhubaneswar, July 31: The next time you hire a banquet to throw a party and turn up the music, make sure you’ve got a licence to play copyrighted music in public. Not doing so could mean three years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh!

Lack of public awareness and ineffective implementation has resulted in huge losses for Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), the apex licensing arm of the Indian music industry in the city.

Most event organisers conducting parties and events are unaware they have to apply for the licence, which is a must to play copyright protected recorded music. Private shop owners in the city too have little knowledge about the rules.

Rules prescribe that anyone playing music published by any music company registered with PPL without obtaining a licence could end up with a three-year prison term and paying a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh.

PPL gives licence in two categories — background music licence with a validity of one year, and event licence, which is given on a temporary basis for events such as musical concerts, stage performances or daylong events. The background music licence is meant for playing sound recordings in the background for the public, excluding private homes and vehicles, and costs Rs 1 lakh whereas the temporary licence fee is decided on the basis of the area of performance and size of the crowd. The norm also includes getting a licence for college programmes.

Nodal officer of PPL, Odisha, Sudhansu Rana Singh said that though most of the branded stores and malls in the city had obtained a licences from them, there were many event organisers and hotel or store owners who were yet to apply for the licence.

“We have been conducting frequent awareness drives in the city to inform people about the Copyrights Act for music. However, most people are not aware of the norms, as a result of which we are incurring heavy losses,” said Singh.

Some event organisers in the city, however, feel the licensing policies should be lenient and licences more easily available.

PPL officials say they need more co-operation from the police to implement the laws related to licensing. “We want them to help us in enforcing the penalty,” said Rana Singh.

However, deputy commissioner of police Nitinjit Singh said the police department had been informing event organisers about the music licence policy and also been helping people in obtaining it.