Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Issued Notices to Combat piracy of Films & Music

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has Issued Notices to Combat piracy of Films & Music Mumbai, December 20, 2011: Let’s not indulge in Piracy: “Its a crime” will be soon imbibed as a culture in the minds of youth. The latest action taken by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of issuing notices will go long way in building culture of respecting Intellectual Property informs Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Secretary General, FICCI. As per a notice issued by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), Multiplex Owners shall now have to screen anti-piracy clip to educate consumers about the ill effects of piracy. The clippings have been prepared by FICCI, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The Ministry has issued such notices under section 12(4) of the Cinematographic Act, upon the request made by FICCI, as per which the Multiplex Owners are obliged to screen the videos, contravention of which may have implications of the license issued to Multiplex Owners. During a recent conference held by FICCI-IPR Division in Mumbai under the aegis of “FICCI-MHRD-Anti-Piracy Coordination Cell”, it was highlighted that Cineplexes are majorly used as a platform for piracy. The unscrupulous elements often indulge themselves in the act of piracy by camcording/recording the films through various technological means in Cineplexes while these are being shown. Later such films find their way on internet and flood the market through pirated CDs. As piracy is not only affecting the film producers but the government is also a party to the losses in form of taxes slipping out of their hands. The act of Piracy is done through Multiplexes, CD, internet websites etc. It has been seen in the past that major source of Piracy is through multiplexes. As per the latest statistical data of 2010 given by India Entertainment Media Outlook 2011[1], the loss that piracy has caused to entertainment industry is INR 5.2 billion. Piracy is not a new word in the dictionary of Crime. The Indian entertainment industry started getting affected with it from the time, when the movie KALA PATHER (1979) hit the Indian Cinemas. Time and again various steps have been taken by the Government and the industry, however till date there was no conclusive step. One Pirated copy of the film recording uploaded on the web leads to huge amount of loss for the Producer, and others employed in the Business of Film making. At times producers are not even in the position to recover their investment. The government losses the revenue (taxes) which it would have charged on the profits of the Producer. The initiative has been well received by Industry. “FICCI on behalf of its members appreciates the prompt and effective action of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in issuing such notice”. This serves as one of the milestones achieved by FICCI–MHRD-Anti Piracy Coordination cell in the realm of combating the issue of piracy MEDIA DIVISION Taresh Arora Media Relations Officer FICCI Industry’s Voice for Policy Change Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi 110 001