This is surely a real life scene worthy of making it to the screen. A bunch of BJP MLAs who were reportedly being restrained within a Rajasthan stronghold to ensure that there would be no cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections, were discovered watching a pirated version of Prakash Jha?s newly released Raajneeti. These BJP folk apparently decided that the Election Commission documentary on Rajya Sabha polls, which was on the official schedule and which would have also been completely legit, was not worth their while. A Jaipur court has ordered that an FIR be lodged against both the Rajasthan BJP chief whip and the owner of the hotel in which the MLAs were lodged. An infuriated director is also considering legal action. ?How can lawmakers break the law like that? They should be the ones to put a stop to such illegal things and create examples but they are blatantly breaking the law,? Jha lamented. We agree. From Bollywood to the regional industries, copyright infringement has grown into a serious threat over the years, given that its revenue toll is exacerbated by its ties to a dangerous, cross-border, underground network that actually has linkages with insurgents in the worst instances. The RAND report on film piracy had demonstrated that film piracy funds terrorist activity. When lawmakers who are supposed to come down hard on copyright theft are instead caught participating in the crime, and en masse at that, it is more than shameful. And they must be subjected to demonstrable penalties. Or else, the message that would go out is that piracy is innocuous and doesn?t merit punishment. What will be the point in making everything from theatres and the Internet more secure if the the lawmakers themselves watch pirated DVDs with impunity?
This incident has come to light even as the intellectual property produced in India is growing in brand and dollar terms. On their part, both implementation agencies and the industry have been investing in technologies and international cooperation to defend such property. At the Ficci Frames conference this year, for example, the MPAA chief announced a historic alliance between the Hindi and Hollywood studios. This alliance has come into being because co-productions, joint TV ventures, shared distribution rights, joint ownership of technology companies et al mean that domestic and international companies are going to rise or sink alike, in the face of the piracy threat. So it?s not just domestic players who will be looking closely at how the Raajneeti crime is tackled.
