Madras HC quashes contempt orders against Radio Mirchi in SIMCA music royalty dispute

• Madras High Court quashed contempt orders against Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL), operator of Radio Mirchi, in a music royalty dispute with SIMCA.
• The court set aside previous directions, including a 50% deposit of alleged royalty dues and submission of music-play logs.
• The Division Bench ruled that contempt jurisdiction was not maintainable as the underlying royalty order is before the Supreme Court and monetary liability was unquantified.
• ENIL stated that the ruling eliminates all outstanding contempt-related obligations and has no financial impact from the annulled orders.
• The dispute involved royalty payments for music broadcast between 2010 and 2020, with the court noting SIMCA was not a party before the Copyright Board.

Why It Matters: Broadcasters avoid contempt charges in music royalty payment disputes.