In the News

Indian Film Industry Losing Billions to Piracy

A study conducted by Ernst & Young India for the US-India Business Council (USIBC) estimates the loss in revenue for the Indian film industry due to piracy at US$4 billion (Rs16,000 crore) per year and 820,000 jobs. And some say the estimate is conservative.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) reports that India's entertainment industry currently earns $11 billion annually and is growing at a rate of 18 percent a year. It is expected to be earning $28.5 billion by 2012. "If we can stop piracy, these industries will grow even faster and employ more Indian workers," said FICCI secretary General Dr. Amit Mitra.

Study results were released by USIBC President Rom Sommers at the FICCI-Frames 2008 Business of Entertainment Conference. The way forward, he stated was "to build public awareness on the need to fight counterfeiting and piracy, advocate against piracy by supporting the passage of the optical disk legislation and fighting the scourge of cross-border piracy."

Although the popularly named Bollywood produces more films than Hollywood, its earning amount to two percent of that of the American entertainment industry.

Copyright - Superman's New Power?

He's faster than a speeding bullet and has x-ray vision, but it is not his super powers that are under contention. Rather, it is ownership of Superman's lucrative copyright.

Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sold the rights to the comic in 1938 to Detective Comics, Inc. (which later became DC Comics) for US$130 - $10 per page for a 13 page comic -under the U.S. work for hire copyright doctrine. DC made a fortune on the investment - the Man of Steel appeared in newspaper strips, radio series, on television, in movies, on merchandizing, etc.

In 1976, an amendment to the US Copyright Act made it possible, under strict conditions, for the creators of works made for hire to reclaim their rights when the copyright was due for renewal. A court decision at the time sided with Warner (DC's parent company) against Siegel; nonetheless Warner decided to award both creators US$35,000 a year each for the rest of their lives and guaranteed they would acknowledge the...