Indian films make USD 2 billion but lose USD 2.7 billion to piracy

Indias film industry said to be the largest globally with some 1000 movies produced each year earns around 2 billion from legitimate sources such as screening at theatres home videos and TV rights But with 27 billion piracy earns 35 per cent more and a way out has proved elusiveShahid Kapoor in Udta PunjabRed Chillies Entertainment a production house promoted by actor Shah Rukh Khan was a victim of film piracy with Dilwale last year It grossed Rs 148 crore at the box office but its pirated version circulated a day before its release grossed a much higher amount stakeholders saidRecent films like Kabali Great Grand Masti and Udta Punjab have all faced similar musicContent theft or piracy in the film industry originates from camcording in cinema halls Over 90 per cent of new release titles originate from cinemas said Uday Singh Managing Director Motion Picture Distributors Association IndiaThe infringing copies appear online within few hours of a film release Singh told IANS and added The Indian film industry loses around Rs 18000 crore 27 billion and over 60000 jobs every year because of piracyThis figure is also what the World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO brandishes in its magazine quoting noted filmmaker Anurag Basu While the Indian film industry is indeed flourishing piracy points toward how much more its stakeholders can make he saidAccording to the latest KPMGFicci report on the Indian media and entertainment sector the film industry here is projected to grow from Rs 1382 billion 209 billion in 2015 to Rs 2263 billion 343 billion by 2020 at an annual growth rate of 105 per cent But piracy could also grow exponentially unless checkedCurrently the government is focused on inclusive society initiatives aimed at connecting villages via broadband This has the potential to incentivise piracy as people would find it much easier to watch a movie on their laptop than travel to far off theatres the report saidHence there is need for a collective structured scientific multipronged and proactive approach to combat piracyAdding another dimension Patrick Kilbride Executive Director for International IP with Global Intellectual Property Center of the US Chamber of Commerce said piracy also limits the economic contribution which creativity can make in IndiaIssues such as copyright infringement film piracy camcording and content leakage weaken the industry by hampering the deserved revenue production said KilbrideStakeholders said some sophisticated technologies like the watermarking of prints which allow producers or rights holders to monitor the usage and movement of each print across the globe have also not been able to stop piracyNew technologies including digitisation of film prints have cut the cost of recording storing and copying of films for distribution Risks involved in leaking and piracy have also increased manifold said Lavin Hirani Head of Legal Affairs Red Chillies EntertainmentUnfortunately these technologies are not enough to protect the clandestine recording of pirated versions done 90 per cent of the times with a camcorder or highquality mobile camera in a lowlight setting of a cinema theatre or from the projector room Hirani saidThere is also the recent prevalence of pirated versions of Indian films swarming the market and the Internet a day or two before their actual release since distributors opt for a simultaneous global screening which requires the dispatch of prints some 1012 days in advanceSome territories like in the UAE they release films a day prior to the Indian release date which is typically a Friday This is one of the reasons why a film is leaked before its actual release he addedRajkumar Akella Chairman of the Anti Video Piracy Cell Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce echoed a similar line of thoughtEarlier one odd film would get accidentally leaked before release date But these days prerelease piracy leaks have become a recurring feature which is very alarming for the industry Akella told IANSWhat then is the solutionAnurag Basu told WIPO that people need to understand piracy is a crime The state blocks Web sites that allow downloads of pirated films which is good This apart DVD versions must be available within a week or two after the formal release as a wait of threefour months is a bit longPiracy is working because people can buy a pirated DVD for Rs 100 and a whole family can watch it We have to offer that kind of entertainment at that price It has to be as easy to get an original DVD as it is to get a pirated one he saidHirani said theres no single method or step Possible measures would require concerted efforts by all stakeholders including the state and central governments which lose tremendous amount of money in taxes from the sale distribution and exhibition of films