In an appeal filed by few of the hotels, the division bench of the Madras High Court modified the Single bench order of Justice M. Sundar and reduced the deposit amount from Rs. 1.25 Lacs to Rs. 75,000 in relation to performance of musical entertainment to customers by restaurants for festive occasions and the New Year.
A bench of Justices MS Ramesh and GR Swaminathan ordered the modification while entertaining original side applications from Poppys Hotels in Uthankudi near Madurai and its two units in Coimbatore. It was argued by the appellants that the status of PPL as a copyright society is itself in dispute and sub-judice before another court. Further, that the amount demanded by PPL was neither reflective of the tariff provided by the company itself in its website nor commensurate with the revenue liable to be generated by the applicants.
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