And now, an anti-piracy fund The Indian film industry makes a bid to tackle piracy in an organised manner

Syed Amin Jafri

The Indian film industry has decided to fight piracy by putting together its own force and setting up an anti-piracy fund.

Prominent filmmaker Yash Chopra said members, from producers and stars to the labourers, have taken a historic decision to contribute one per cent of their earnings to the anti-piracy fund.

Admitting that the Indian film industry has been reeling under organised piracy and the absence of any blockbusters so far this year, he said, "Not only the producer but everybody connected with the industry --- the exhibitor, distributor, actor, daily wage labourer --- is losing money because of piracy.

Chopra, the chairman of Entertainment Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), was addressing a meeting on Frames: Forging Regional Cooperation, as part of the India-ASEAN business summit in Hyderabad.

Calling piracy 'really scary', Chopra said the film industry could not go any more to the government with a begging bowl for curbing hte menace. "The industry will have to do something to fight the problem on its own," he pointed out. "We have launched a movement and decided to put together our own force as the government has said that it does not have a force to fight the piracy."

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Talks are on with former Director-Generals of Police Julio F Riberio and KPS Gill in this regard. The industry is also consulting legal experts to back the measures being taken to fight piracy. "We are also talking to West Bengal Chief Minister [Buddhadeb Bhattacharya] in this regard. I am sure Andhra Pradesh, which is a very important part of the film industry, will also be with us," Chopra said.

He said the film industry wanted to make the anti-piracy fund a legal entity and the government has promised that it would enact a law under which it would be mandatory for all those associated with the industry to contribute one per cent of their earnings to the fund. "Our legal advisers are preparing a note on this," he disclosed. "Even the banks who have a financial interest in the films are helping us financially."

He pointed out that investments by financial institutions have yielded very good results. At a time when other industries are showing signs of decline, the Indian film industry had earned Rs nine billion through exports.