Govt mulls campaign against content piracy

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The government is considering the launching of a multimedia campaign against content piracy and will rope in celebrities to "enhance its impact and outreach", Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said here Tuesday.

The campaign, involving both the government and private sector, envisages the endorsement of celebrities to enhance its effectiveness, Soni said in her keynote address at a seminar on Anti-Piracy and Regulation of Content-Legal Issues.

"In order to discourage people from buying pirated goods, celebrities would endorse the campaign to enhance its impact and outreach," she said, adding that a multi-pronged approach was necessary to tackle the menace of piracy.

"A solution was possible if both the demand and supply of pirated content was reduced," she said.

"It was critical to position appropriate instruments and mechanisms at both the policy and implementation level to make piracy a risky proposition."

The seminar was organised by the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), headed by noted lawyer Lalit Bhasin. "An estimated 600 million pirated DVDs are sold in India every year compared to only 20 million original ones," Bhasin said.

"We can imagine how piracy eats up half the profits. Unless there are strict and stringent laws in India to punish those who promote and encourage piracy in any form, this issue is not going to end."

The minister also released "Media World and the Law", a SILF publication authored by Bhasin and Anand Desai.

The book covers relevant Indian statutes and regulations and gives a detailed analysis of landmark judgments, providing readers with an all-round perspective on this important area of law, said a SILF release.