A coalition has been formed by Indian Studios and the MPAA, which hopes to stamp out DVD piracy in India.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, piracy cost the movie industry in India $959 million in 2008 – making it one of the worst countries in the world for creating DVD knock-offs.
Speaking about the coalition, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said: “Free is great and everybody likes things for free. [But] in a civilised society, we need to pay for products and services.
“I believe that as an industry, if we offer people products at reasonable prices in a hassle free manner, people will not steal.”
Glickman also noted that piracy was costing the industry jobs, saying: “The menace of copyright theft jeopardises a movie’s ability to make money – if at all.
“This affects the level of investment available for new films and the ability to create new jobs for workers throughout the country,”
Non-bailable offence
Another person vocal in India’s anti-piracy plight is Bollywood film-maker Yash Chopra, who said about the problems: “The Indian film industry loses millions of dollars every year due to piracy. India is also among the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to this crime.
“We need government support to implement stricter rules to prevent people from going to watch movies in cinemas with camcorders for copying purposes. If someone is caught, it should be a non-bailable offence.”
We’re hoping that the alliance will solve the piracy problem by challenging the pirates to a massive Bollywood dance-off. But, for some reason, it looks like the courts and police will more likely deal with the problem.
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