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.

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.