The dispute before the High Court arose after negotiations between the Wynk and Tips for the use of copyrighted songs on Wynk’s portal failed in April 2017.
Tips, therefore, demanded that Wynk stop using songs whose copyright lay with Tips. A cease and desist notice was issued demanding that Wynk deactivate these songs from its portal from May 10, 2017 onwards.
Wynk did not follow this and allegedly exploited these songs for 10 more months.
In November 2017, Tips demanded a royalty of ₹2.83 crores for the exploitation of its copyright. In response, Wynk invoked its rights as a ‘broadcaster’ under Section 31D and unilaterally decided that the royalty payable for the period between September 2016 to November 2017 was only ₹1.41 crores.
Source: Barandbench
