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Copyrights mired in grey |
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By: Alisha Coelho |
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Date:
2010-01-03 |
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Place: Mumbai |
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3 Idiots controversy has opened the intellectual property rights can of worms. Lifting plots or tunes is punishable... but it's still only on paper, say lawyers
Even as the debate rages on about who's right or otherwise, let's set the idiots aside for a moment. For it seems that the squabbling, tweeting and 'shut-upping' brings to light another can of worms -- a creative industry where intellectual property rights are in a sea of gray.
The Copyright Act of 1957 lays down stringent penalties for infringement, including imprisonment of up to one year, but lawyers say that punishment is still on paper. Advocate Uday Warunjikar says, "We come across so many unintentional violations and the perpetrators are unaware of the consequences. The act requires more modifications so as to cover all facets of individual creativity."
Publishers have their own woes. Thomas Abraham, managing director of Hachette India, maintained that copyright infringement was a chronic problem in India. "There are counterfeits and fake pirated products that one sees everywhere. Then there are territorial infringements, where there are loads of illegal US editions that can be seen in our bookstores. Finally, there are reproduction rights and fair use infringement when photocopies are made. There is only a permissible minimum that is allowed and using more than that is infringement.
Photocopying textbooks is a major problem at all universities," he said.
Bogus complaints
There is a flip side to the David versus Goliath story though. Advocate Vibhav Krishna says that bogus complaints are filed a dime a dozen, especially just before or after a movie is released.
"These complaints are often thrown out by the court, like in the case of the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don a few years ago where disputes arose concerning the original soundtrack composed by Kalyanji-Anandji. Then there are cases of 'acquiescent conduct' wherein the 'aggrieved' party was in full knowledge of the terms and conditions laid down by the producer and chose to protest only as the release neared. By the time these complaints are sifted through, there are very few that remain," said Krishna.
'Not always a good thing'
Producer Pritish Nandy has a different take, blaming not the laws but the implementation. "India has grown up in an oral tradition. History, story telling, music, theatre, religion, everything survived so wonderfully because of our oral tradition. People owned everything they heard and then passed it on, often as their own. There was no concept of ownership over creative work. That came with the British and the industrialisation of our culture.
Historically, we always believed in collective ownership. Very few things (particularly in cultural spaces) were yours or mine. Most things were ours. Today, we have become so conscious of our IPRs that anthologists of folk tales claim ownership over those original tales. People are trying to copyright Ganesh and Hanuman, patent yoga and ayurveda. And what is worse, they are getting away with it. So remember this, protecting copyright is not always a good thing."
'Go for it!'
The system has been kind to some though. Take music composer Ram Sampath, who in 2008 sued the Roshans for having picked up his jingle composed for a cell phone advertisement and used it in their movie Krazzy 4.
"There is no ambiguity. There's either been a legal case or there isn't. It's strange that this debate continues to rage on in the public domain, when it can be settled in the court providing that the party has strong grounds for feeling that they have been cheated. My advice? If you're feeling aggrieved, go for it. There are lot of people trying to hijack the rules for their own benefit but there aren't enough to render the law useless," said Sampath, who himself won the suit against the Roshans, forcing them to cough up Rs 2 crore in compensation.
'Bhagat signed the agreement'
The producers of 3 Idiots on Saturday, released a copy of the agreements between author Chetan Bhagat and themselves stating that the producers were obliged 'to accord credit to the author in the rolling credits as under -- Based on the novel 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat'. It was also stated that Bhagat was paid an ex-gratia amount of money after the movie was declared a success.
Director Raju Hirani further maintained that a non-disclosure agreement was signed by Bhagat after a "four-hour reading to him in my office" of the movie's script.
Bhagat, in turn, reacted on his blog to the agreement, "Yes, there is a contract, which was ethically abused. But how can you give another credit for story, not including me, without my consent, right upfront and hide mine totally? The screenplay is not an issue here. The people who have done that have adapted my story -- not written a new one. Maybe they can be co-credited for story, but how can they exclude me?"
Meanwhile, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra also apologised for his outburst against a journalist at the Noida press conference held on Friday where he told the scribe to shut up. "I really think it was silly. I was provoked as you guys know but I should not have done that. It does not befit me. What I did was silly and I am really sorry."
Five Point Someone sales shoot up
The 3 Idiots uproar has, unsurprisingly, greatly helped the sales of Chetan Bhagat's books.
At Mahavir Book Store at Fort, store manager Vipul Gala, said that his sales of Five Point Someone had increased by more than a hundred percent. "We are a retail and wholesale store so in one day alone, I have sold 200 copies of Five Point Someone as wholesale and more than 30 books as retail. It's been doing tremendously well and we're in the process of placing yet another order." There has been speculation that Bhagat has been raising a stink over the credit issue after signing the agreement with 3 Idiots' producers, because it will cause buzz around his books.
Sales of Bhagat's newest book Two States is also benefiting from the allegations. Jimmy Shroff, CEO of BookZone said that the store's been flooded with inquiries. "Sales of Five Point Someone didn't pick up as much as his newest book did as the first book came out a few years ago. Two States is, however, doing well. There's been a ten per cent pick up in sales over the past week and we can only predict that there will be more customers as the controversy continues," said Shroff.
Did you know?
Copyright on any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (other than a photograph) that a person produces remains valid for 50 years following his death
Rs 2 crore
The amount that composer Ram Sampath won from the Roshans for lifting his tune for Krazzy 4 |
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