FICCI Frames: Govt plans Copyright Board for IP laws for film industry

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has initiated discussions with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry on the modalities of setting up a Copyright Board which would oversee strict implementation of IP laws for the entertainment industry, particularly the film sector. This was stated by Ajay Mittal, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, while inaugurating the 18th edition of FICCI Frames 2017. 

‘Digital: Divide or Dividend’ is the theme for the three-day mega event of the business of Media and Entertainment (M&E) this year. FICCI Frames 2017 is partnered by Canada, which has sent a 100-member strong delegation led by the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory. 

Mittal assured the M&E industry professionals that the censorship challenges posed by fringe elements would be surmounted by the strength of the Constitution and the rule of law. He said that the Government has created a new category of visa called ‘Film Visa’. Shooting of a film in India would be enough ground for issuance of such a visa for the crew, he added. 

In order the make the country more attractive for production of films by foreign production houses in India, Mittal said that an award has been instituted by the Central Government for the most film-friendly State of India. This year, an amount of Rs 1 crore has been set apart for such a State. 

While the norms for ease of doing business for the industry were being simplified, the Government was also looking at the creation of suitable content for kids that brings them closer to their culture and moral values. 

Sudhanshu Pandey, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in his remarks, spoke about the commercial and economic dimensions of films and the global regimes for the M&E sector. He said that the Indian film industry accounted for a mere 7 per cent of the global industry’s revenue. This needed to be raised significantly to bring in investments and funding for ploughing back into the industry. 

Pandey stressed that the need of the hour was to create 20,000 more digital screens in the country to create a critical mass which the industry could leverage. It was also important for the M&E sector to make a major contribution in marrying the two flagship programmes of the Government – Make in India and Digital India – for the benefit of industry. 

Meanwhile, Pankaj R Patel, President, FICCI and Chairman and Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare, spoke about the need for maintaining a balance between content and its monetisation. The M&E industry witnessed many landmark policies and measures and after the implementation of GST, ratification of taxes and policies on digital media would enable the sector to flourish. 

While delivering the theme address, Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Entertainment Committee & CEO, Star India, observed that with the increased incidence of self-appointed street side groups trying to push censorship through, the creative minds were imposing self-censorship and freedom of expression was being undermined. He added that such censorship left no room for civil debates and disagreement. 

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Chairman, FICCI Film Forum, and Director & Founder, Romp Pvt Ltd., said that the committee on censorship headed by Shyam Benegal has strongly recommended the abolition of censorship and advocates the issuance of film certification based on age for preserving freedom of expression in the country. He added that people’s theatres and cultural centres must be built across the country which are reasonably priced and provide a clean environment for taking content to people. 

A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, noted that the industry was growing at a rate of almost 9 per cent and the market was also maturing. 

Combating piracy & counterfeiting 

At the session on ‘Decoding the pirate economy in interconnected world: From Noise to Action’, Brijesh Singh, Inspector General of Police (Cyber), Maharashtra Police, in a special address said that the Government of Maharashtra was creating a unit to specifically deal with issues of digital infringement of IP. He urged the industry to come forward for this initiative and was in favour of developing a PPP model. 

Singh said that Maharashtra would soon have its own Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), which would enable efficient and faster action on computer security incidents. Giving a clarion call to the industry, he added that it was time for stakeholders to collaborate with the enforcement agencies to combat piracy and counterfeiting. 

In his keynote address, Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DIPP, said that piracy and counterfeit were being used as a source for terror-funding and legislation alone could not fight it. He added that laws were in place for IP protection, the need was to implement them. To this end, technology could be leveraged to bring about meaningful and effective solutions with the help of the industry. He added that anti-piracy campaigns were being carried out effectively in various states and the stakeholders with the Government needed to find administrative measures to substantially reduce the problem of piracy and protecting IP. 

The panelists included Raj Kumar Akella, Chairman, Anti-video Piracy Cell, Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce; Surrender Mann, Senior Vice-President, Legal, Star India; Bharat Dube, CEO, Strategic IP Information; Sujeet Jain, Group General Counsel, Viacom18; and Kulmeet Makkar, Chief Executive Officer, The Film & Television Producers Guild of India. The session was moderated by Uday Singh, Managing Director, Motion Pictures Association India.