Lex Orbis, an India-based intellectual property firm, published a comprehensive status report for antipiracy and IPR regulation in the world’s second largest media market. India had nearly 600 million Internet users in 2017-18, a user-base that grew by 1.9% (CAGR) that year.
India’s National IPR Policy, introduced in 2016, contains objectives for IPR protection, penalty guidelines for the illegal duplication of films, and provides guidance for collaboration between law enforcement, government, and the court system. It also makes recommendations about collaboration between law enforcement, government, and court systems, and for public education about media content as intellectual property.
The IPR policy also establishes an agency called the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM), to promote awareness across industry and the public. CIPAM has esablished IPR awareness programs that have reached more than 200,000 students. One of CIPAM’s collaborations with law enforcement and communications authorities in India resulted in “suspension of 300 infringing websites, having over 186 million hits per month.”
Other efforts include
- The Maharashtra Cyber Digital Crime Unit (MCDCU), a collaboration between cyber police and the film and music industries, which has taken down more than 200 piracy Web sites.
- Initiatives by central and state governments in India
- Amendments to India’s Cinematograph Act, to regulate camcording for piracy
- Establishment of a National Cybercrime Reporting Portal
The Lex Orbis article also provides examples of anti-piracy enforcement by the Indian judicial system.
Read the entire Lex Orbis article, “Combating Copyright Online Piracy in India: Government’s Initiatives and Judicial Enforcement”
Why it matters
India has developed and implemented a highly sophisticated multi-faceted approach to intellectual property protection and anti-piracy, with clear policy guidelines, public awareness programs and ways that disparate agencies can collaborate within India and with media companies and governmental authorities worldwide.
