PHONOGRAPHIC PERFORMANCE LIMITED vs PASS CODE HOSPITALITY PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS.

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment delivered on: 09.01.2026 CS(COMM) 267/2024 & I.A. 20757/2024 PHONOGRAPHIC PERFORMANCE LIMITED .....Plaintiff versus PASS CODE HOSPITALITY PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS. .....Defendants Advocates who appeared in this case For the Plaintiff : Mr. Chander M. Lall, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Anku Sangal, Ms. Sucheta Roy, Mr. Ankit Arvind, Ms. ‘‘Raghu Vinayak Sinha, Mr. Shaurya Pandey & Ms. Ananya Mehan, Advocates For the Defendants : Ms. Swathi Sukumar, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Kartik Malhotra, Mr. Sumeher Bajaj & Mr. Anindit Mandal, Advocates. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA TEJAS KARIA, J I.A. 7255/2024 & I.A. 8596/2024 FACTUAL BACKGROUND: 1. The Plaintiff, Phonographic Performance Limited, is an owner of copyright in various sound recordings. Defendant No. 1, Pass Code Hospitality Private Limited, owns and operates various well-known high- profile pubs and bars. 2. The Plaintiff has filed the present Suit against the Defendants as the Defendants were using the Plaintiff’s sound recordings without taking any copyright license. As per Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (“Act”), if any party uses any sound recordings with