The Hindu Business Line : Government, FICCI differ on optical disc law

Mumbai, March 27 Despite the Information & Broadcasting Secretary Ms Asha Swarup’s statement that the Optical Disc Law was not the government’s preferred method to fight piracy the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will stick to the original policy guidelines.

On the sidelines of the last day of the FICCI Frames 2008, Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, said FICCI would not change the policy in any way and was hopeful of getting the policy drafted by the Government, despite the Secretary’s comment.

“The law will not promote Inspector Raj in any way, in my opinion. But if the Government points out some problematic clause, not in the best interests of the film industry, we would change it. Otherwise we see no reason to change any of the guidelines.”

Ms Swarup had earlier said that the law had been discussed by various Ministries, and not been favoured by most of them. In an earlier session of FICCI Frames, she said that the Government did not want to promote Inspector Raj.

Without going into specifics, Dr Mitra said that the law would allow a system to be put in place for the industry to fight piracy and enable the government to play a regulatory role and combat it.

A study, ‘The Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy on India’s Entertainment Industry,’ released by US India Business Council (USIBC) with Earnst & Young showed that 800,000 direct jobs and Rs 16,000 crore are lost every year due to piracy. The study was conducted by the USIBC-FICCI Bollywood-Hollywood Initiative.

Film maker Ramesh Sippy said the allegation that high ticket prices at multiplexes were encouraging piracy was unjustified. Dr Mitra added that once the economies of scale for multiplexes grew, the prices would come down, but the current rates were determined through market forces and were optimal.

Mr Prashant Panday, Chief Executive Officer, Radio Mirchi, in a separate forum announced that the company would devote $1 million worth of free commercial time (FCT) to fight piracy. Repeat messages against piracy on air would go a long way in creating awareness amongst the public, he explained.

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