Wireless users in India are expected to cross 790 million in two years and digital advertising revenues are set to double to over $18 billion in five years, making it important for the government to work continuously to promote and protect intellectual property in the country, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Conference on Global Digital Content Market (GDCM), 2018, which is being hosted by DIPP this week, will bring together artists and executives from various creative fields from the Asia-Pacific region, who will discuss the challenges and opportunities brought in by the fast-advancing digital technologies, Abhishek said addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.

WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry pointed out that the disruption in distribution of creative work brought about by digital technology was soon going to spread to production. “It is not too long before artificial intelligence starts producing music as a regular feature,” he said.

Responding to questions on India’s IP regime, Gurry said the country had made extraordinary efforts, particularly in the recent years, in improving things. “India is going for more integration with the international system. It recently acceded to the WIPO Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty. We have seen development in infrastructure for IP. There are more patent offices and a reduction in processing time. This is very helpful,” he pointed out.

There are ways to respond to challenges posed by the digital age and encourage compliance, Gurry said, and one of them was to make content available on reasonable and accessible terms. “If we consider the music industry over the last two decades, initially it was resistant and there was contraction in the industry. In the last two-three years, for the first time, we are seeing expansion in the music industry once again. It is because of new business models, such as subscription models which give access to content on accessible terms,” he said.

Abhishek pointed out that the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) had increased the coverage of protection of copyrights in the international IP regime, as it is extended to even the Internet and digital environment. “This action will also bring the Indian creative industry under an international copyright system which has secured the distribution of their work, provided them with a level playing field and infused a sense of confidence in them and their creative development,” Abhishek said.

To better equip the enforcement agencies to deal with IP-related crimes, 33 enforcement training programmes have already been conducted in 9 States across India to train police personnel deal with cases on IP. Similar trainings have also been conducted for Customs officials and the judiciary, the DIPP Secretary added.

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