Facts:

• M/S. Phonographic Performance Limited (Appellant) was incorporated and registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, of 1956, and had been registered as a Copyright Society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, of 1957. A certificate to that effect had been issued by the Registrar of Copyrights.
• M/S Lizard Lounge &Ors. (Respondents) including hotels, lounges, bars, and restaurants, were allegedly playing the sound recordings music without obtaining a license from the Appellant. The case was filed before a Single Judge for constituting copyright infringement.
• The appeals arose from two suits filed by the Appellant, seeking injunctions against copyright infringement in sound recordings and recovery of money for unauthorized playing and public communication of the recordings in the Respondents' premises without a license.
  
  

Background/ Procedural Posture:

• The Learned Single Judge held that the Copyright Act does not allow copyright owners to authorize Copyright Societies to sue for copyright infringement or seek remedies, the suit was deemed not maintainable. These rights were held to be exclusive to the copyright owner or an exclusive licensee, not a Copyright Society.
• Aggrieved by the decision of the Learned Single Judge, the matter was appealed before the Division Bench of Hon’ble High Court.

Main Issue:

Whether the Copyright Society has the right to institute a suit in its name for infringement of the copyright of the owner?