In a bid to curb the menace of piracy, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to authorise officials of CBFC and I&B to direct the social media intermediaries to take down pirated content on digital platforms. These officials will be designated as nodal officers.

The Ministry has established an institutional mechanism for appointment of  nodal officers, who will be authorised to  receive complaints against pirated content and then issue take-down directions to intermediaries, the Ministry added. 

No institutional mechanism

“As of now there is no institutional mechanism to directly take action on pirated filmic content except legal action under Copyright Act and IPC. With the proliferation of internet and almost everyone interested to watch filmic content for free, there has seen a boom in piracy,” officials said adding that this measure is expected to bring relief to the film industry. 

As per some estimates, the film industry is facing losses of upto ₹20,000 crore every year due to piracy.

Copyright bearers

“An original copyright holder (or any person authorised by them for this purpose)can apply to the Nodal Officer to take down pirated content. If a complaint is raised by a person who does not hold the copyright or is not authorised by the copyright holder, the Nodal Officer can hold hearings on a case to case basis to decide the genuineness of the complaint before issuing the directions,” the statement added .

Digital platforms will be obliged to remove such internet links hosting pirated content within a period of 48 hours after receiving directions from the Nodal Officer under the law, the statement added. 

Regional offices of CBFC, the office of the chief executive officer at its headquarters in Mumbai and the ministry will designate nodal officers for this purpose., officials said.

After the parliament passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 1952 during this year’s Monsoon Session, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur had stated that the Act aimed to curb film piracy, a measure which has been a long-standing demand of the film industry.

The Act was amended after 40 years to incorporate provisions against film piracy, including digital piracy. It now includes strict punishment of a minimum Three months imprisonment and fine of ₹3 lakh which can be extended up to Three years imprisonment and fine upto 5 per cent of the audited gross production cost.