Instead of supporting the industry?s demand for putting an Optical Disc legislation in place, the government has put the onus of stopping film piracy on cinema and multiplex owners.
Any failure in plugging the film piracy inside a cinema theatre or a multiplex would result in the withdrawl of theatre licence by the district authorities, said the latest report on piracy by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry.
To check the piracy over the internet, the I&B ministry wants to put the onus on Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
However, since ISPs are outside the ambit of I&B ministry, the onus of including them will rest on the IT ministry. For setting a system of legal framework to check piracy and to make amendments in the existing Copyright Act, the onus will be on the human resource and development ministry, the report said.
The report was keenly awaited awaited by the media and entertainment industry as the committee on piracy was set up in December 2009 on the instructions of Ambika Soni, the I&B minister. The committee had representations from the film, television, music and the radio industry which supported the legislation for Optical discs currently 50% of the music sold and 60% of the movies sold are pirated. Also, film and music piracy is estimated to cause an annual loss of Rs 2,000 crore to the domestic media and entertainment industry.
Optical discs refer to the DVDs, VCDs, CDs, Blue-ray, and removable drives that are used for storing and disseminating movies, television content, and music. The film, music and the radio industry has been batting for a dedicated Optical Disc law to check the piracy.
However, the I&B ministry has not supported the Optical Disc legislation saying that its enactment would lead to over-regulation of the optical disc industry and re-introduction of ‘licence-permit raj’.
Instead, the I&B minsitry wants the current Copyright Act to be amended in such a manner so as to correct any lacunae that may exist in the implementation and enforcement of the Copyright Act.
The film and music industry is not amused with the report. ?There are no concrete suggestions or solutions which will check film and music piracy. Amendments to existing laws take a lot of time and they have been in the offing and therefore it does not do much for out cause of stopping piracy,? a top executive from a leading multiplex chain said.
Others from the radio and music industry called the report a complete eye-wash.
The piracy report has remained silent on the industry demand for setting up a corpus fund to fight piracy.
For checking piracy on cable television platforms, the I&B ministry is looking to amend the existing cable laws. The report on piracy supports conversion of traditional cinema theatres in smaller towns into digital theatres and a simultaneous release of DVDs along with the movie release as measures to fight piracy.
However, the onus of generating funds for converting small-town theatres into digital theatres will lie with the film producers, distributors, rights holders among others.