Statutory licensing for online streaming: A case of legislative inaction

India possesses no guidelines to regulate the manner in which licences are to be obtained by online streaming services

A recent case of Tips Industries v. Wynk Music has sparked a widespread discussion over Section 31D of the Copyright Act 1957, which provides a scheme for “statutory licensing”. The section was introduced to remedy the challenges faced by the radio and television industry and sought to ensure appropriate returns to the owners of the copyrighted work and easy access of protected material to broadcasters. The requesting party can directly obtain the licence through a unilateral notice informing the copyright owner and paying the royalty rates specified by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). Interestingly, the section was introduced in