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MUMBAI: On 24 February 2007 the Motion Picture Association
(MPA), in association with the Andhra Pradesh Film Producers’
Chambers held a movie piracy training seminar at the Andhra
Pradesh Police Academy, Himayat Sagar, Hyderabad.
The seminar had more than 400 attendees, including public
prosecutors, magistrates, police officers, as well as industry
representatives
The seminar, with Chief Guest Justice T.Ch. Surya Rao, Honorable
Judge, Andhra Pradesh High Court, as its chief guest, saw
enforcement authorities and rights holders sharing information
on movie piracy and efforts to take action against pirates.
The seminar also focussed on the need to raise public awareness
of the damage caused to local industry by piracy.
MPA senior VP and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific Mike Ellis
says, “We are delighted to have joined with the Andhra
Pradesh Film Producers’ Chambers and local enforcement
authorities to take action against piracy in Andhra Pradesh.
“It is clear that arrests, prosecutions and significant
custodial sentences are necessary in order to create a real
deterrent to this criminal activity that so badly damages
local economies.”
MPA head of operations Col. Anil Nayer says, “The Andhra
Pradesh Police and the Film Producers’ Chambers are our
partners in the battle against film piracy. The seminar aims
to provide more insight to the enforcement authorities on film
piracy and create a stronger team.”
MPA says that piracy in India affects the Indian film industry
more than American producers and distributors. It is estimated
that only 20 per cent of pirated goods infringe the copyrights
of foreign film titles. The remaining 80 per cent of pirated
product infringes the copyrights of domestic films. According
to Government estimates, the entertainment industry loses
up to 1,700 crores annually on account of piracy.
Since the beginning of 2004, the MPA has conducted close
to 1,000 raids and seizure operations in India in cooperation
with law enforcement authorities. Additionally, civil raids
have been conducted through court-appointed Local Commissioners
in civil suits initiated by MPA member companies.
A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate
picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry
including, for the first time, losses due to internet piracy,
recently calculated that the MPA studios lost $6.1 billion
to worldwide piracy in 2005. About $2.4 billion was lost to
bootlegging, $1.4 billion to illegal copying and US$2.3 billion
to Internet piracy. Of the $6.1 billion in lost revenue to
the studios, approximate $1.2 billion came from piracy across
the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the US accounted
for $1.3 billion.
In 2005, the MPA’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region
investigated more than 34,000 cases of piracy and assisted
law enforcement officials in conducting more than 10,500 raids.
These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 34 million
illegal optical discs, 55 factory optical disc production
lines and 3,362 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation
of more than 8,000 legal actions.
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