The Hindu Business Line : Music industry moots new norms to protect intellectual property

LENDING voice to the need to evolve new norms for the protection of intellectual property in music, the Indian music industry (IMI) has recommended a two-point programme. The programme advocates setting up of an enforcement agency within the police department to protect copyrights and levying statutory damages to ensure deterrent punishments to pirates.

The music industry suggested that the national enforcement agency should ideally comprise an anti-piracy organisation by the Government that will operate at the national level. This will help expand the reach and powers of IMI's anti-piracy operations across the country and bring about efficiency and speed in law enforcement.

The music industry also urged the Central Government to impose stringent statutory damages as a deterrent punishment for pirates. Leniency in the judicial system and law enforcement diluted the efforts of IMI to dissuade pirates.

A successful example of how imposition of statutory damages reduces piracy levels is the US, where a person caught with pirated products is charged $1,50,000 (about Rs 68.7 lakh). Compare this with Indian standards - a person caught with pirated products is charged with a maximum fine of Rs 5,000 and/or one year's imprisonment.

Mr Vijay J. Lazarus, President, IMI and PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd), reiterated the need for the Government to tackle the piracy menace at the Central level.

"IMI welcomes the I&B Ministry's initiative of seeking monthly reports on piracy-related raids and seizures conducted from the States. We also need to remember here that music and entertainment software should be treated as human creative inputs. Seventy per cent of CD and recording equipment costs comprise the creative inputs of music artistes. But piracy today is robbing our nation of this cultural heritage by theft of this creative input. In the interest of the music industry's survival, we ask the Government to collaborate with us in relieving the country of this menace."

The suggested national enforcement agency will sustain IMI's own anti-piracy body spearheaded by Mr J.F. Ribeiro, former DGP, Maharasthra, which has been conducting raids around the country with the local police.

Increasing piracy levels are forcing IMI to spruce up its taskforce and expand its bandwidth to cover the whole country.

More Stories on : Piracy | Music & Dance

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