SupremeCourt

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Guest Post: Taking a look at Online Piracy in India

Posted on 3:56 PM by Unknown
Snigdha Roy brings us her third submission to the SpicyIP Fellowship applicant series. This post looks over piracy in India and also takes a brief look into some new controversial reports on the funding sources of online piracy. 



Online Piracy: Gross Copyright Infringement

Online piracy is on a rise and it is soon to replace physical piracy. Nowadays, one can download anything for free be it movies, music, software or books. Online piracy is a menace no doubt but one would have to admit that at some point of time or the other one has definitely given it a shot or at least thought about it. 

This post discusses how gross copyright infringements take place by way of online piracy in India. It also takes a look at the recently published report which accuses Google and Yahoo of being financers of internet piracy and ends with brief information about the recent amendments made to the Copyright Act which may facilitate the fight against piracy. 

As known, the copyright holder has the exclusive right to distribute, reprint, translate, and license his or her work. Piracy is the unauthorised reproduction, importing or distribution either of the whole or of a substantial part of works which are otherwise protected by copyright.

India has emerged as one of the biggest hubs of online piracy, with Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai accounting for the major share of the illegal downloads. According to studies commissioned by the Motion Picture Distributors’ Association (MPDA), the local office of the Hollywood Motion Picture Association (MPA), India accounts for maximum film piracy in any English-speaking country if one goes by the number of broadband subscribers (read here). 

Recently India along with twelve other countries found itself in the highest priority watch list of 2012, which is a part of U.S. Trade Representative’s annual list of countries on America’s official piracy radar. As per the report online piracy is rapidly supplanting physical piracy in many markets around the world (read here). According to the US India Business Council – Ernst & Young 2008 report on ‘The Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy on India’s Entertainment Industry,’ the Indian film industry lost USD 959 million and 571.896 jobs in that year due to piracy (read here). In India 90% of all piracy begins with an unauthorized recording by camcorders in theatres on the opening weekend of a film’s release. 

It’s not like efforts have not been made to curb piracy. Many organisations have constantly made efforts to combat online piracy and root it out completely. Speaking on the issue with Radioandmusic.com, Global IPR Foundation Founder & Chairman MM Satish said, “In the past few years there were a number of solutions provided by various people but nothing has been positively effective to provide a 100 per cent solution. Most of the portals that people are downloading from are based out of the country. I cannot impose our laws in those countries or bust up the piracy racket there.” 

In September 2012 a crackdown was done on online film piracy. The anti-piracy cell of the Kerela state police traced down the IP address of a total of 1,010 persons who illegally uploaded or downloaded the then recently released Malayalam movie Bachelor Party. The police took action on the basis of a complaint filed by a Thrissur based firm Movie Channel which bought the video CD, DVD rights of the film (read here). This is one of its kind incidents in India. 

Like any other websites, the websites which facilitate piracy needs funding to stay afloat. For these websites one of the main means of gathering revenue is on-site advertising. A report, “The Six Business Models of Copyright Infringement”, funded by Google and the PRS for the Music on Brands, found that advertising financed 86% of the peer to peer search sites that feature illegally distributed content. Ironically a recent report published on 5th January 2013 ranked Google and Yahoo in the top ten advertising networks placing the most advertisements to illicit file sharing sites. This report titled USC Annenberg Lab Ad Transparency Report is the first in a monthly series of reports from the Annemberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California that details support by Online Ad Networks of the major pirate movie and music sites around the world. The allegations have not been proved yet and Google has raised questions about the research methodologies employed to make the report. However if the allegations turn out to be true then it would be a big dent in the image Google which has claimed to be against piracy.

The Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012 which has in ways revolutionised the Copyright laws in India has also made certain changes with regards to laws against piracy. The new section 65A protects the technological protections measures (TPM) used by copyright owners against circumvention. TPM is used by a copyright owner to protect his rights on the work. In case a person circumvents it with the intention of infringing such rights, then that person would be punishable with imprisonment upto 2 years and shall also be liable for fine. Further with the insertion of Section 65B the Act intents to make removal of right management information without authority and distribution thereafter a criminal offence. Information Rights Management (IRM) is a term that applies to a technology which protects sensitive information from unauthorised access. So any unauthorised and intentional removal or alteration of any rights management information is a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment. The introduction of Sections 65A and 65B is expected to help the film, music and publishing industry in fighting piracy. 

Piracy is not a problem which can be irradicated overnight. It needs persistent work and unity at the global level. The new amendments may not be enough to take India off the “priority watch list”. However the crackdown by the Kerela state police and the many initiatives taken to educate the masses can definitely help make improvements. 
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Posted in Copyright, Piracy, SpicyIP Guest Series | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • IPAB on Payyannur Ring
    [*S lightly long post] Background: The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (“ IPAB ”), in its recent order in SubhashJewellery v. Payyan...
  • Satyajit Ray's sketches and copyright controversies
    A copyright row appears to have started between the Satyajit Ray Society and the Delhi Art Gallery, that is organising a countrywide exhibit...
  • Ghost Post: Samsung v. Apple Presidential Enforcement Veto
    SpicyIP subscribers recently received a short blurb from Shamnad on this FT article regarding the hypocrisy of stamping 'national inter...
  • Dorling Kindersley v. Sanguine Technical Publishers
    A recent Delhi High Court order passed on 21 January, 2013  with respect to copyright licensing has come to our notice. An analysis of the j...
  • SpicyIP Tidbit: ALCS August Distribution
    In the UK, the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society is an organization run and owned by writers that collects money due to its mem...
  • Delhi HC rejects the "Hot News" Doctrine: A Summary
    The applicability of the Hot News doctrine was rejected recently in a landmark ruling delivered by Justice Bhat of the Delhi HC. This post i...
  • IP Research Assistant position at IIT, Madras
    Feroz Ali Khader, MHRD IP Chair at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, is looking for research assistants to work on various is...
  • Thalappakatti biryani trademark row
    The southern district of Dindigal in Tamil Nadu occupies a special place in the hearts of biryani lovers. In the late 1950s, one Nagasamy N...
  • SpicyIP Tidbit: GI for Pedana Kalamkari Art Form
    Image from here Recently, as The Hindu reports , Pedana Kalamkari art form received GI protection. Members of Vegetable Dye Hand Block Kalam...
  • Loss of an IP Leader: RIP Prof Daruwalla
    Most in the Indian IP firmament may have heard of the doleful demise of one of our IP leaders, Mr. Tehemtan Nasserwanji Daruwalla. He was an...

Categories

  • 126 (1)
  • 3(d) (4)
  • 3(f) (1)
  • 3(i) (1)
  • 3(k) (2)
  • Academic Writing (1)
  • access (10)
  • access to food (1)
  • access to health (3)
  • AIA (1)
  • AIDS/HIV (3)
  • Antitrust (2)
  • Bajaj v LML (1)
  • Basmati Row (2)
  • Biological Diversity (5)
  • Biologics (2)
  • biopiracy (4)
  • biotech (7)
  • Bollywood (25)
  • Broadcasters Rights (5)
  • Budget (1)
  • business method patent (2)
  • Call for papers (2)
  • Cipla (2)
  • Comparative Advertising (4)
  • Competition law (8)
  • Compulsory Licensing (27)
  • condonation of delay (1)
  • Conference (4)
  • Constitution (12)
  • Contracts (1)
  • Controller's decisions (8)
  • Copyright (112)
  • Copyright Amendment Bill 2010 (23)
  • copyright board (4)
  • Copyright Exceptions (6)
  • copyright office (1)
  • Copyright Rules (2013) (5)
  • Copyright Societies (9)
  • Counterfeiting (1)
  • creativity (1)
  • Cross Retaliation (1)
  • csir (4)
  • d (1)
  • D.U. Photocopy Case (16)
  • Darjeeling Tea (3)
  • Data Exclusivity (2)
  • Database (1)
  • DCGI (2)
  • decompilation (2)
  • defamation (9)
  • Designs (3)
  • Designs Act (3)
  • Differential Pricing (2)
  • Dilution (1)
  • Disabilities (3)
  • Disability (2)
  • DMCA (2)
  • Doha Declaration (1)
  • Domain Names (2)
  • Draft Policy of the Indian Government (2)
  • DRM (1)
  • Drug Regulation (7)
  • education (12)
  • Enercon (1)
  • Enforcement (1)
  • EU (2)
  • ex parte (2)
  • exhaustion (3)
  • Exhaustion of Rights (2)
  • Fair Dealing (8)
  • Fair Use (11)
  • Federal Circuit (1)
  • Fees (3)
  • FICCI (7)
  • FRAND (2)
  • free trade agreement (3)
  • FTA (3)
  • G.I. Registry (4)
  • gene sequences (3)
  • Generic medicine (4)
  • Geographical Indication (14)
  • Gilead (1)
  • Glenmark (5)
  • Gopika (34)
  • Guest post (11)
  • guidelines (1)
  • GWU-CII (1)
  • Herceptin (1)
  • hot news (3)
  • ICANN (1)
  • incremental innovation (1)
  • independence (1)
  • india (5)
  • Indian Government (1)
  • Indian patent litigation (27)
  • Indian Pharma (35)
  • Injunction (10)
  • Innovation (7)
  • INTA (1)
  • Intermediaries (10)
  • internet (11)
  • Internet Access Providers (IAPs) (5)
  • Internet Censorship (7)
  • IP scholarship (3)
  • IP aware (4)
  • IP Course (3)
  • IP Education (1)
  • IP Policy (11)
  • IP update (4)
  • ip writing competition (1)
  • IPAB (34)
  • ipchair (1)
  • IPO (1)
  • IPRS (5)
  • IT Act (1)
  • Journal (2)
  • judicial independence (3)
  • Jurisdiction (1)
  • Kruttika (4)
  • Legal Education (3)
  • Legal Research Tools (1)
  • Legal Scholarship (2)
  • library (2)
  • Licensing (7)
  • Madhulika (20)
  • mathematical methods (1)
  • Media law (3)
  • medical method (1)
  • Merck (4)
  • mhrd ip chair (1)
  • Microsoft (3)
  • Middle Path (1)
  • Moral Rights (2)
  • Movies (18)
  • musical work (2)
  • nanotechnology (1)
  • Natco (3)
  • natco defamation suit (5)
  • natco vs bayer (4)
  • need for transparency (1)
  • Novartis (8)
  • Novartis patent case in India (11)
  • NPEs (2)
  • nujs (1)
  • NUJS Conference (2)
  • Obituary (1)
  • obviousness (7)
  • Off-Topic (2)
  • online course (4)
  • Open Access (6)
  • Open Source (2)
  • Opposition (3)
  • Parallel Imports (4)
  • Parliament (1)
  • passing off (5)
  • Patent (52)
  • Patent act (10)
  • patent agent (5)
  • patent agent exam (9)
  • patent agent exam qualifications (3)
  • patent infringement (5)
  • Patent Licensing (2)
  • Patent litigation (2)
  • Patent Office (19)
  • patent pool (3)
  • Patent Prosecution (7)
  • Patent rules (2)
  • Patent Strategies (8)
  • Patents (9)
  • pegasus (1)
  • Personality Rights (1)
  • Pfizer (1)
  • Pharma (18)
  • Piracy (5)
  • plagiarism (3)
  • Plant Variety Protection (2)
  • post grant (1)
  • Prashant (2)
  • Preventive Detention (1)
  • Price Control (6)
  • prior publication (1)
  • Privacy (3)
  • Prizes (1)
  • public health (3)
  • Public Interest (4)
  • Publicity Rights (4)
  • Publishing (3)
  • radio (2)
  • Rajiv (18)
  • Rectification Petition (2)
  • Rejection (1)
  • research (3)
  • reverse engineering (2)
  • revocation (4)
  • rip (1)
  • Roche (2)
  • Roche vs Cipla (1)
  • Royalty (2)
  • RTI (2)
  • Scholarship (4)
  • section 16 (1)
  • Section 3(d) (7)
  • section 8 (6)
  • shamnad (11)
  • Shan Kohli (4)
  • Shouvik Kumar Guha (30)
  • Smartphones/Tablets (2)
  • Social Innovation (1)
  • Software (10)
  • software enforcement (3)
  • software patent (3)
  • Special 301 Report (1)
  • Spicy Tidbits (6)
  • spicyip (1)
  • SpicyIP Accolades (1)
  • SpicyIP Announcements (9)
  • SpicyIP Case (1)
  • SpicyIP Cases (3)
  • spicyip commiseration (1)
  • SpicyIP Events (11)
  • SpicyIP Fellowship (5)
  • SpicyIP Guest Series (22)
  • SpicyIP Interview (2)
  • SpicyIP Jobs (4)
  • SpicyIP Jobs/General (2)
  • SpicyIP Review (1)
  • SpicyIP Tidbits (11)
  • SpicyIP Weekly Review (27)
  • Statutory Licensing (1)
  • STI Policy 2013 (4)
  • Sugen (3)
  • Supreme Court of India (5)
  • Swaraj (19)
  • Tarnishment (1)
  • Technology (6)
  • Technology Transfer (5)
  • TKDL (5)
  • TPP (1)
  • trade (4)
  • Trade Secret Protection (1)
  • Trademark (59)
  • Trademark dilution (1)
  • Trademark Registry (9)
  • Traditional Knowledge (7)
  • Transparency (5)
  • treaty (1)
  • trial (1)
  • tribunals (2)
  • TRIPS (11)
  • UK (3)
  • unfair competition (5)
  • UNFCCC (1)
  • Universities Research and Innovation Bill (2)
  • US (1)
  • US Patent Reform (1)
  • US Supreme Court (3)
  • viva (3)
  • WIPO (5)
  • Working a Patent (2)
  • Workshop (4)
  • writ (1)
  • WTO (1)

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2013 (364)
    • ►  September (13)
    • ►  August (41)
    • ►  July (36)
    • ►  June (36)
    • ►  May (32)
    • ►  April (51)
    • ►  March (66)
    • ►  February (40)
    • ▼  January (49)
      • The ‘Emcure model’ of Foreign Investment and Joint...
      • Patent Office makes public the feedback to the Dra...
      • SpicyIP Announcement: Brainstorming Session on Tra...
      • Locus standi and public interest under the GI Act ...
      • Spicy IP Weekly Review: January Weeks 2-3
      • Pirates of the Carribean: Retaliating Against IP
      • Delhi High Court clarifies the notification re pat...
      • Two years of continuing disappointment with the Ma...
      • Announcing the SpicyIP Fellows for 2013 - 2014!
      • Guest Post: Looking at IPR Policy in Climate chang...
      • Part I: Is decompilation of software legal under t...
      • Part II: Is decompilation of software legal under ...
      • Correction: Meerut scissors GI still in applicatio...
      • Guest Post: Graphene - Indian Patent filings disma...
      • Patent Ambush: Big Pharma vs Generics
      • Guest Post: For whom is the Indian IPR Regime?
      • Guest Post: More GI news as Meerut Scissors grante...
      • Guest Post: Taking a look at Online Piracy in India
      • Guest Post: Madurai Malli is granted GI status
      • SpicyIP Events: Workshop on Tools for Researching ...
      • INTA announces Annual Calendar of Events - 2013
      • Guest Post: Why are Business Method Patents being ...
      • Guest Post: Bare Licensing in India
      • Guest post: LAVA aims for 100 Mobile App Patents
      • SpicyIP Events: Patracode announces Workshop on To...
      • Samsung at the Supreme Court: Nationalising Exhaus...
      • Analysing Science, Technology and Innovation Polic...
      • Guest Post: Copyright in Social media - AFP v. Dan...
      • Open Access: What is it about?
      • The political economy of the current round of comp...
      • Guest Post: Examining the recently announced Compu...
      • The S(war)tz Legacy and "Open" Lessons for India
      • SpicyIP Events: Patracode announces Workshop on To...
      • Mark Lynas, former anti-GM food activist embraces ...
      • Rebutting ad hominem Twitter attacks
      • IP ideologies and the Swartz suicide
      • Aaron Swartz, RIP
      • Evading the mandatory royalty sharing provisions o...
      • DIPP to issue CLs for Herceptin, Dastinib & Ixabep...
      • SpicyIP Fellowship reminder
      • Introducing Science, Technology and Innovation Pol...
      • The Royalty Payment Siphon by MNCs - Independent D...
      • Introducing Science, Technology and Innovation pol...
      • SpicyIP Weekly Review: January (2013) Week 1
      • Incentives through Recognition? Nobel Assembly sue...
      • Guest Post: Plain Packaging Laws for Tobacco Products
      • Guest Post: Colours as Non-conventional Trademarks
      • FICCI announces online certificate course on Compe...
      • Guest Post: The Unfair Competition Act, 2011 and i...
  • ►  2012 (131)
    • ►  December (29)
    • ►  November (42)
    • ►  October (50)
    • ►  September (10)
Powered by Blogger.