Radio City wins relief as Madras HC quashes contempt directions in music royalty case

In a major relief for Music Broadcast Limited, operator of Radio City, the Madras High Court has quashed contempt orders issued in 2024 and 2025, ruling that the directives issued earlier in the music royalty dispute were legally unsustainable.

In its judgment, the Division Bench struck down all directions previously issued by the single judge, including the requirement for Radio City to deposit 50% of the alleged royalty dues and to submit historical music-play logs and related royalty computations. The court clarified that none of these obligations now survive.

The Bench held that contempt jurisdiction was not maintainable in this case, especially since the underlying order in the civil miscellaneous appeals is pending before the Supreme Court. It also noted that the alleged monetary liability remains unquantified, and therefore cannot be enforced through contempt proceedings.

The dispute traces back to disagreements over royalty payments for music broadcast between 2010 and 2020. SIMCA had accused broadcasters of non-payment and sought contempt action following the High Court’s April 2023 ruling modifying royalty norms set by the Copyright Board. Broadcasters argued that the judgment did not quantify any payable amount, making contempt action legally untenable.

The Division Bench concurred, emphasising that any recovery must follow the statutory process under Section 75 of the Copyright Act, which requires royalty amounts to be quantified and certified as a civil decree before enforcement. It further observed that SIMCA—being a non-party before the Copyright Board—cannot invoke contempt jurisdiction to enforce royalty claims arising from private licence agreements.

The ruling brings significant relief to Radio City and aligns with similar orders passed in favour of other broadcasters embroiled in related copyright disputes.