Copyrighted Music: Online Systems for Licence Fee Collection Proposed

The government has proposed that owners or licensors be required to maintain dedicated online systems for the collection of licence fees for communicating copyrighted music to the public.

This forms part of the draft Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2025, notified by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on June 5. Stakeholders have been invited to submit their comments within 30 days.

The draft Rules seek to introduce Rule 83(A) in the Copyright Rules, 2013. This Rule mandates owners or licensors of literary works, musical works, and sound recordings to establish and maintain an online payment mechanism for the collection of a licence fee payable by a licensee for communication to the public of such work.

All such licence fee payments must be processed exclusively through the said online system, and alternative modes of payment will not be permitted.

The proposed change is expected to promote transparency, ensure timely payments, and streamline the licensing process.