They represent two different interest groups trying to defend their own territory. They are separated by continents, and what keeps their interests separate is the way content is delivered and accessed in the virtual world of the internet.
Kaushal Modi is the head of SET India?s licensing and telephony division. He has already sent a few legal notices to Google?s YouTube, the online video sharing service, against the hosting of some of Sony Entertainment?s popular programmes like Indian Idol and Comedy Circus. Sony has asked YouTube to remove all unauthorised content from its site.
Nowadays one of the tasks of Modi?s office in Mumbai is to work closely with Sony Entertainment?s US office to constantly monitor and track down the violation in the copyright laws across different websites. ?It?s like a multi-headed hydra. Cut down one of them and the next day there will be hundred heads sprouting up in different directions,? Modi says.
Sony Pictures in the US is putting in software controlled monitoring system to track down the violators of copyright laws. Here in India, Sony Entertainment has a battery of lawyers busy sending legal notices to websites catering to community needs.
?We keep legal notice templates ready in the office?whenever we detect any infringement our lawyers are sending notices,? says Modi.
Cut to Sujoy Sarkar, a doctoral student in engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He did not like talking about websites like YouTube. ?Why are you writing this, they [sic] may come up with new laws again; I think there is already some gossip in Europe and in the US against YouTube??
Like many students from this subcontinent, he is engrossed in YouTube. Regarding copyrights violation on YouTube, Sujoy does not have much to comment, except the fact that he is confident that Indian copyright laws can?t ban YouTube. ?But does YouTube stop people from purchasing DVD, VCD or audio CD? I think that?s important,? says Sarkar.
Sarkar says he has friends who watch English movies on YouTube or in other community video-sharing sites and do receive notices from big production house like Warner Brothers and Columbia pictures. But he says that, for Indian content, viewers have no problems since there is no one to monitor it. ?The Indian DVDs here are expensive and for a moderate-income person like me, I would rather go for free stuff. Here sometimes I may sacrifice quality for variety.?
For both Sarkar and Kaushal Modi, technology has become like the hand of God, this is something that is far beyond their comprehension. A few years ago, Shawn Fanning with his music swapping software on the internet, Napster, sent the entire music industry into a tailspin. The Indian music industry is still to recover from that and has not seen any growth for a few years.
Now, with the popularisation of online video websites for community viewing, YouTube being one of the popular destinations, Indian content producers are facing the heat. Leading TV channels like STAR have sent legal notices to YouTube for housing some of its content on YouTube, according to STAR spokesperson. The spokesperson said YouTube does not comment on specific conversations with copyright holders. ?We prohibit users from uploading infringing material, and we cooperate with all copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content as soon as we are officially notified.?
The global phenomenon is fast becoming local. Rajshri.com, Nautanki.TV or Meravideo.com are some of the community sites dedicated for South Asian community. The problem is that, YouTube being a subsidiary of Google, the lawyers know where to send the notice. What about fly-by-night video sharing websites where everything is virtual? Most of the times there is no official address to track down unless one knows the IP address from where the videos are uploaded.
The online community videosite is a platform for people to discover, watch and share original videos. But in many cases, the zealous users start uploading third party content on the community site disregarding the fact that it is a violation of existing copyright laws.
YouTube offers a bonanza of Indian content?clips from international cricket matches, numerous adverts shown on Indian television channels, old and new Bollywood songs, Hindi and regional language movie clips and songs, celebrity interviews and news programmes.
Today, anyone with a decent broadband connectivity can watch the memorable memory game sequence from Satyajit Ray?s Aranyer Din Ratri, Aamir Khan?s latest interview on NDTV, Kishore Kumar?s live concerts. Each stream can range from 1-10 minutes. As you select one stream, the other related ones will be listed on your screen and you can make take your pick.
Picture and sound quality with a good internet connectivity is excellent. In other words, if few decades back internet was used for text, graphic and audio exchanges today video sharing is the new face of internet use. In just over a year, YouTube has become the sine qua non of what a community video site could be.
For the Indian music industry, television software makers, music and film producers the online video sites are becoming a menace. When it comes to the amount of money the companies are losing, there is no number to understand the damage. Most of them just don?t want to speak simply because they don?t know how to come to terms with a situation where a person who is not even a geek can upload anything on the internet.
?It?s as simple as recording a CD or a DVD,? says Atul Churamani, vice-president of Saregama Ltd, the country?s largest music company. He has many things to worry about. Many of Saregama?s oldies are on YouTube.
?Though our rights are limited to audio portion, it worries us a lot. We really don?t know how to counter this except sending notices from time to time,? says Churamani.
He also believes that internet is also a great opportunity for music and content software companies. ?The community sites provide alternative platforms of content distribution. But there should be strict enforcement of copyright laws before we can start earning revenues.?
Many in the industries believe that there is no point fighting the online video sites. ?Rather, we should have a more assimilation strategy with a plan to explore the opportunities,? adds Churamani.
YouTube says that it is already partnering with content providers. In India, it has already started partnership with entertainment companies. Churamani talks about possible future partnerships with online video community websites. ?I think if there is fair split in revenue coming from say advertisement there is no reason why content producers will not agree to place their contents,? he says.
But what about unauthorised videos already available on the sites? Many feel that online video sites can circumvent existing copyright laws by offering a share of advertisement revenue for third-party unauthorised content uploaded by the users. Will the content producers bite the carrot? Modi thinks this is not a viable option. ?I have an exclusive relationship with Sify in the internet space for Indian Idol. If I find the popular programme on YouTube, I would prefer it is removed from the site rather than an arrangement of revenue sharing.?
YouTube?s spokesperson says that the company has copyright protection tools and policies already in place. These include digital hashing, 10-minute limit on the length of content uploaded to the site, and a repeat-infringer policy and plans to offer video fingerprinting to all copyright holders.
In Web 2.0 environment, the share of content created by the user community is becoming bigger and bigger. Indian content producers are certainly being affected by this new phenomenon in terms of loss of revenue and business opportunities.
?We have some hard work to do. First, we have to wet our toes in this new environment before we start swimming,? says Churamani. The issue is how many of the Indian companies are brave enough even to ?wet their toes.?
