Bollywood’s golden music age set to enter the public domain as old songs complete copyright term

music labels that historically owned or administered the sound recording rights, as well as licensing agencies that collect royalties on their behalf, agreed Sonam Chandwani, managing partner, KS Legal & Associates.Once the statutory term expires, the recording effectively enters the public domain and any person is legally entitled to perform, broadcast or commercially use that recording without obtaining a licence from the original rights holder.“This development is beneficial for businesses such as hotels, restaurants, event organisers, broadcasters and digital content creators because it removes the obligation to pay licensing fees for the use of those specific recordings. Conversely, it reduces the ability of legacy music companies to exercise exclusive control over certain parts of their catalogue.

The immediate impact is therefore not on the creation of new music but on the commercial exploitation of older works that were previously monetised through licensing structures,” Chandwani pointed out.Large music companies are generally aware of how copyright duration works and have been planning around it. They continue to acquire rights to new music, work with new artists and expand into digital content, films and artist management, rather than relying solely on older recordings.“Where awareness is still limited is among businesses that use music in public places.

Many hotels, restaurants and event organisers are not very familiar with how copyright duration works. In practice, some of them may continue paying licensing fees simply to avoid legal trouble, even when the recording they want to play might already be in the public domain,” said Vishal Gehrana-partner designate, Karanjawala & Co.Another practical issue is