Why digital piracy thrives in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The digital and online piracy not only poses business risk and threat to legitimate content, the menace has become an international worry. The Government of India has already proposed an amendment to the Copyright Act 1957 to curb digital piracy.

The Ministry of Communications and IT Kapil Sibal has said that copyright piracy occurs due to economics of high prices. “Convergence of communication systems, satellites and the Internet has posed a challenge to copyright protection,” he said.

“ISP's cooperation is yet to become international norm to fight online piracy. Blocking of Website is also not advisable as it may ruin the legitimate content,” the Sibal’s statement read. 

As the digital piracy continues to thrive in the absence of effective enforcement mechanism, FICCI recently organized a seminar ‘Curbing Digital and Online Piracy in the Publishing Industry’ in New Delhi.

Chairman of the Board of John Wiley & Sons, Peter Booth Wiley said that when litigation was being brought in on Megaupload there was enormous uproar over the Internet. The challenge, Wiley said, is to draft the right legislation.

PM Sukumar, CEO, HarperCollins India and president of the Association of Publishers in India (API), said that it’s heartening to know that the Government of India is taking serious steps to check digital piracy. A recent report, he said, claimed that India is fourth in the world in illegal downloads.

In digital parlance, curbing piracy is of paramount importance. Besides, the Copyright Act 1957 and IT Act 2008, need to be given more powers, he said. Sukumar also feels that IPR cells should be formed in all cities throughout the country.

BSA India Committee chair and director of IPR and licence compliance at Microsoft India Keshav Dhakad feels that risks to users and consumers are growing, therefore piracy has become a major cause of concern today.

API Legal counsel Saikrishna Rajgopal believes that the country lacks enforcement regime. “It’s a major concern that 350,000 downloads of a Bollywood movie 'Kaminey' took place, while majority of them were from India,” he added.