Official says minors are being used for film piracy

Film industry incurs loss of ₹1,009 crore

Curbing film piracy continues to be a major challenge for the authorities concerned as those engaged in the thriving piracy rackets are said to be using minors for recording films in theatres and uploading the pirated versions online.

Gullible youth are being given attractive offers if they manage to record the films on their high-end mobile phones and pass on the recorded version to the websites concerned.

The rackets, hitherto operating as syndicates, have changed the mode of piracy and have been luring youngsters to record the film with offers of instant payment of up to $30 once they upload the film on the websites of private groups. “The amount is being deposited into their account the moment they upload the film,” an official said.

The issue came up during a meeting of the film producers, internet service providers and cyber crime officials convened by IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan at the Secretariat here on Monday.

Revenue loss

The film industry is said to have incurred an estimated loss of ₹1,009 crore over the past couple of years while the revenue loss to the government exchequer was to the tune of ₹180 crore on account of piracy rackets.

Steps initiated by the government appeared to have paid dividends for some months, but the piracy rackets seem to be growing in the recent months. “The pirated versions of the films used to be available on the net on the first day of release itself. But the intensity has come down to three weeks after the release of the film as we initiated several steps to check piracy,” Mr. Ranjan said.

Data gathered

The departments concerned had gathered relevant data from different sources and had information about the mode of piracy and those behind the rackets.

An action plan had accordingly been evolved to check piracy and steps would be taken accordingly in the coming days.

Mr. Ranjan, however, declined to reveal the information citing that it could alert those indulging in such acts.