Medianet files case against Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma

The cable TV provider, Medianet has submitted a case against the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives claiming that the latter has violated the Broadcasting Act, Rebroadcasting Act, and Copyrights Act. The case against Kandooma Maldives was filed as the resort was rebroadcasting channels without holding the license to do so.

According to the claim by Medianet this act by Holiday Inn Kandooma Maldives directly violates section 18 of the Rebroadcasting Act, which clearly states that channels can only be rebroadcasted after acquiring the legal rights to do so, as well as section 28 of the copyrights Act, which states that broadcasters are fully responsible for giving the rights to rebroadcast channels, and doing so without the legal right would be a violation of the copyrights Act.

The news has surfaced in the local media following Holiday Inn resort Kandooma Maldives failing to show up to the hearing for the fourth time on 22 August 2022. However, this is not the first time this resort has come under criticism for the same violations as the resort had been investigated and action had been taken on 21 July 2019 after the resort broadcasted 40 channels without holding the license to rebroadcast.

Those who rebroadcast avoid paying withholding taxes which is paid to broadcasters in the form of royalty. If a company or individual were to rebroadcast a channel or show, they would be required to pay a license fee under the Copyrights Act, which would act as a payment to the broadcasters.

However, those who do not have the permit to do so and resort to illegal means such as pirating channels are exempt from paying the withholding tax as their accounts would show no license fee: in simpler words, it can also be a form of tax evasion.  With the Maldivian economy already suffering from the global crisis and the World Bank urging the government to begin enforcing people to pay their taxes properly, a resort avoiding such a tax is no small matter. 

And while the surface of Holiday Inn Kandooma Maldives’s violation of the rebroadcasting Act is taking the media by storm, they might not be the only tourist attraction that violates these laws. In a statement given by Medianet in 2021, they noted that some tourist attractions had been rebroadcasting channels under their authorised distributorship through other sources while highlighting  48 channels that had been broadcasted by other individuals without their permission. 

With so many resorts and hotels rebroadcasting on multiple channels, it is not surprising that some of them violate the rebroadcasting Act. With guests constantly being entertained by music, video clips, or movies, whether in the hotel lobby, restaurants, or their rooms, one has to wonder if they are paying any fees for rebroadcasting the music and other forms of entertainment, or if they simply violate copyright laws.

And for those who have always wondered whether a copyrights Act was being violated at that one location that shows the most recent channels, music, and movies, wonder no longer because you might just be right.

Even with the formulation of the ‘Maldives Broadcasting Commission’, which is responsible for handling matters related to broadcasting in the Maldives, the lack of enforcement of the laws related to broadcasting is becoming more and more evident as the issue relating to Holiday Inn resort Kandooma  has been arising since 2019.

Even with Medianet pleading with the Maldives Broadcasting Commission and other authorities in charge of enforcing these laws to take matters seriously, it appears that several organisations are still getting away with violating these laws.