Delhi HC bars resort from playing music

Delhi HC bars resort from playing music
TNN

PANAJI: The Delhi high court on Monday temporarily stopped Goa Marriott Resort from playing music, live or recorded, until it renews its licence with the Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRSL), which is the copyright society for musical works registered with the government of India.

"We have an injunction from the Delhi high court against Marriott Resort, Goa, stating that they can't play music in the hotel, whether live or recorded, till they renew their license. They had a license till December 2005, but the hotel made regular payments only till December 30, 2003," said chief licencing manager of IPRSL G G Prasad.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Goa Marriott said, "We have contested the same in the court and therefore we can't comment."

IPRSL in its petition had alleged that the hotel was playing music without permission and without paying royalties, which amounts to infringement of the society's public performing rights. "Though we produced an invoice dated December 17, 2003 towards license fee for the year 2004 and an invoice dated December 17, 2004 towards the license fee for the year 2005, both remain unpaid," said Prasad.

The hotel in its reply to the Delhi HC to the petition filed by the IPRSL admitted payment of license fees to IPRSL till December 31, 2003, but said it was done under protest. They also stated having entered into separate agreements with various broadcasters to play their music.

The hotel also made reference to two writ petitions filed in the Delhi HC and the high court of Bombay at Goa by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) and the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), questioning the right of the society to collect license fees for the performance and communication of musical works. Marriott said it is a member of both associations.

The Delhi HC observed that there is no mention of any order being passed by either court, restraining the society from collecting fees under the license agreement.

Marriott, however, is not the only hotel that provides multi-channel music, interactive television and live music to its guests without permission from the society, disclosed Prasad.

"In Goa, there are about 5,000 premises which play music, but only 500 have licenses from us for the year 2009. We have approached another 1,500 and asked them to obtain the license before playing music in their premises. Some of them are famous nightclubs in North Goa and we intend to initiate action against them," added Prasad.

IPRSL, is a society that has been assigned "performing rights", which includes the right of performing in public and the right to communicate the work directly to the public or by means of display or diffusion, regardless of whether anyone actually sees, hears or otherwise enjoys the work so made available, said Prasad.

Communication to public includes communication through satellite or cable or any means of simultaneous communication to more than one household or place of residence, including hotel and hostel rooms.

1 October 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition

Rules proposed to curb sale of drugs with abuse potential

Rules proposed to curb sale of drugs with abuse potential
TNN

PANAJI: In order to curb the sale of drugs having misuse or abuse potential, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed "prescription guideline" that allow chemists to deny such medication to doctors who approach them without a prescription or to those persons who provide SMS prescriptions.

The FDA has further proposed that for the safety and proper handling of prescriptions, drugs which have misuse or abuse potential should be written on a separate prescription and doctors will need to give due justification for large quantities of a particular drug prescribed.

Drugs with such potential include diazepam containing products such as Valium and Calmpose; alprazolam containing products such as Alprax, Restyl; zcodeine containing drugs such Corex; pentazocine containing drugs such as Fortwin injections; nitrazepam containing products such as Nitravet, Lorazepam and Larpose and several others.

"Do not prescribe or recommend drugs with misuse potential over the telephone or via SMS. Pharmacies are not authorized to dispense against such orders for such drugs and have the right to refuse to dispense. Also quantities prescribed for such types of drugs should be reasonable," the new guidelines state. The guidelines were circulated to the FDA's stakeholders at a meeting on September 23. Representatives of the Goa Medical Council, Indian Medical Association, Directorate of Health Services, Chemists and Druggists Association and Goa College of Pharmacy have been asked to provide feedback.

Meanwhile, the new guidelines warn that it is not a correct practice to write "self" on a prescription, instead of the patient's name while purchasing medicines directly from the wholesaler or pharmacy. "If a doctor visits a pharmacy and asks for a drug, the pharmacy is authorized to refuse to dispense the drug unless he is presented with a proper written order. The written order should indicate the doctor's qualifications and registration number. In any event the pharmacy is within its rights to refuse to honour a self prescription for scheduled drugs. The written order needs to be kept by the pharmacy for a minimum of two years," sources said.

They added, "If any doctor misuses his powers to indiscriminately prescribe large quantities for other than justified medical use, the medical council has the powers to deal with the doctor. Pharmacies are authorized to refuse to dispense such prescriptions if they suspect any misuse."

1 October 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition