New Delhi, Jun 23 (UNI) The Supreme Court has clarified that its interim stay order dated April 21, 2025, in the copyright dispute between Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) and Azure Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. is applicable only to the parties involved in the suit pending before the Delhi High Court and does not extend to third parties.
A bench comprising justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manmohan passed the clarification while allowing an interlocutory application filed by PPL.
The application sought a clarification on the scope of the Supreme Court’s April 21 order, after PPL claimed that several third parties were using the stay order to avoid paying licence fees for playing its copyrighted sound recordings.
“We clarify that the aforesaid order would be binding inter se between the parties to CS(COMM) 714 of 2022, pending before the Single Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court, which is in terms of prayer ‘a’ of the application,” the court stated.
The dispute stems from a copyright infringement suit filed by PPL against Azure Hospitality, which runs approximately 86 restaurants across India under brands such as ‘Mamagoto’, ‘Dhaba’, and ‘Sly Granny’.
PPL alleged that Azure was playing its copyrighted music without a licence.
On March 3, 2025, a single judge of the Delhi High Court had granted an interim injunction restraining Azure from using PPL’s sound recordings, holding that a prima facie case of infringement was made out.
However, Azure appealed the decision, and a division bench modified the injunction, directing Azure to pay licence fees based on the tariff of Recorded Music Performance Ltd. (RMPL), without determining whether PPL was a member of RMPL.
PPL challenged this direction in the Supreme Court, which on April 21, 2025, stayed the Division Bench’s order requiring Azure to pay based on RMPL’s tariff.
However, the Supreme Court did not reinstate the injunction issued by the Single Judge.
PPL was represented by Senior Advocates Gopal Jain and Vikram Nankani, along with Advocates Ankur Sangal, Sucheta Roy, Ankit Arvind, and Nidhi Pathak.
Azure Hospitality was represented by Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Viraj Datar, assisted by a large team of advocates.
The matter remains pending before the Delhi High Court, and the Supreme Court’s clarification aims to prevent misuse of its interim order by unrelated parties.
