CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction
Movies and music are an integral part of the cultural life of the people in India
and for millions of Indians they are also the only accessible and affordable form
of entertainment. This vital role played by movies in the cultural life of the
people in India has also historically enabled the Indian film industry to play a
critical role in the evolution of the copyright law in India.1 Now a day’s major
copyright infringement takes place by way of online piracy. Online piracy is not
merely restricted to India but is a problem gripping across boundaries. Over the
last decade, the sellers of digital products have actively fought the availability of
pirated copies of their product. Nevertheless, digital piracy rates are still high
and increasing in many markets, despite a continuous increase in the availability
and sophistication of copyright protection and digital rights management
technologies.2

The Indian Film Industry, famously known as Bollywood, is the largest in the
world, and has major film studios in Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. Between them, they turn out more than 1000 films a year to hugely
appreciative audiences around the world. For nearly 50 years, the Indian cinema
has been the central form of entertainment in India, and with its increased
visibility and success abroad, it won't be long until the Indian film industry will
be well thought-out to be its western counterpart- Hollywood. Mainstream
commercial releases, however, continue to dominate the market, and not only in
India, but wherever Indian cinema has a large following, whether in much of the
British Caribbean, Fiji, East and South Africa, the U.K., United States, Canada,
or the Middle East.3

1
ARUL GEORGE SCARIA, PIRACY IN THE INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY: COPYRIGHT AND
CULTURAL CONSONANCE, 3 (1st ed. Cambridge University 2014).
2
Arun Sundararajan, Managing Digital Piracy: Pricing and Protection Vol. 15, Information Systems
Research, 287 (2004).
3
Cultural India: Cultural Cinema, available at http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-cinema/ (Last
accessed on April 15, 2017).
13 | P a g e
If we look at music then the history of Indian Music is from the ancient day of
the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, during the Indus valley civilizations. Indian music
is based on rhythms and melodies but more importantly it is more concerned
with vibrant colours of the rich musical heritage and a wide range of vivid
emotions and expressions. Many Archaeological studies are the evidences and
give validated presence of several musical instruments like harps and drums
during the era.

The Indian Music Industry has a rich musical tradition and can generate sizeable
revenue for the country in every genre of the music industry. There are registered
offices in Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and several other
cities focussing on surveillance, law enforcement and intelligence teams. 4 It
should also be noted that the Music entertainment industry is forecasted to grow
at a CAGR of 15.5 per cent, during 2018-2023. By 2020, the number of online
music listeners in India will reach 273million.5
In the 21st century, protection of work by copyright has become a major
challenge because of the emergence of new category and kind of work such as
software, digital music and videos etc. The related issues in the digital domain
are associated with the distribution and amount of content that has to be
distributed. In the digital domain, copyright infringement can be carried out at a
low cost, with an ease and also without compromising with the quality of the
work. Easy availability of internet has caused easy, illegal downloading at a
much cheaper rate as internet service providers and telecom companies offer
internet services at a cheaper rate. With increase in the number of mobile phone
users and similar gadgets, technology is easily reaching the public and this is

4
Indian Music Industry, available at https://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/music.html (Last
accessed on October 30, 2019).
5
Media and entertainment Report (Feb 2019), KPMG, India Brand Equity Foundation, available at
https://www.ibef.org/download/media-and-entertainment-feb-2019.pdf (Last accessed on November 1,
2019).

14 | P a g e
now becoming a big concern with the progress in developments in the digital
environments. 6

1.2 Piracy in the digital domain

Internet or cyberspace as it is sometimes called is a borderless environment with
no visible lines demarcating the jurisdiction. Even though it is indispensable as
a knowledge bank, it is an ideal tool for someone with a criminal bent of mind
who can use this environment to his/her maximum advantage. Cyber-crimes like
hacking, cyber stalking, spamming, Online Piracy of films, music etc. are on the
rise.

Copyright is the term we use for the bundle of ‘exclusive rights’ which the laws
of most countries confer on authors to exploit the works which they create. When
we say someone has an exclusive right to do something, we mean that no one
else can lawfully do it without the permission of the holder of right. Copyright
is therefore a negative right as it confers upon the holder a right to enjoy the
intellectual property in the work, to the exclusion of the rest of the world. The
whole purpose behind granting of these rights in the intellectual property is so
that their owners may utilise or exploit them for their gain. It may be succinctly
put as this, that the authors are being rewarded for the hard work that they put in
composing that piece of art.7 The basic idea behind Copyright protection is the
premise that innovations require incentives. Copyright recognises this need and
gives it a legal sanction. Moreover, the commercial exploitation of copyright
yields income to the creators and thus gives pecuniary rewards to individual’s
creativity.

6
Juhi Saraswat and Rekha Chaturvedi, Copyright Protection in Digital Environment: Indian
Perspective and International Obligations, Vol. 22, JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS, 303 (2017).
7
Abhay Bhaskar and Mishita Jethi, Internet Piracy: Scope of Secondary Infringement Liability in India,
Vol. 1 (2), THE GNLU LAW REVIEW, (2018).
15 | P a g e
The importance of copyright in India was correctly stated by the Supreme
Court in R.G .Anand v. Delux Films8 The Court in this case held that:

“It seems to us that the fundamental idea of violation of copyright or imitation

is the violation of the Eighth Commandment: ‘Though shall not steal’ which
forms the moral basis of the protective provisions of The Copyright Act, 1957.”

Online copyright piracy is a menace prevalent worldwide. Piracy means

“unauthorised reproduction, importing or distribution of whole or of a substantial
part of works protected by copyright.” The Copyright piracy leads to loss to the
owners of the property. Besides, economic loss, piracy also adversely affects the
creative potential of a society as it denies creative people such as authors and
artists their legitimate dues. The nature and extent of piracy also vary across the
segments of the Copyright industry.9

The computer- aided communication technologies such as email and internet

have added altogether a new dimension to today’s communication process by
making it more speedy, informative and economical. The ways through which
different types of information can be communicated have also undergone a sea
change. While all these have made communication among people more effective
and efficient both in terms of time and cost, they pose the greatest threat to the
copyright world. Modern communication channels, being intensively relying on
a variety of copyrighted products, are liable to be pirated in large scale, if
adequate precautions are not exercised.10

1.3 Research problem

Online piracy of films music and sound recording is a problem not just limited
to Indian domain but it is a global problem which is faced my almost all countries
because of the technological development. Huge losses are incurred worldwide

8
R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, A.I.R 1978 S.C.1613, (India).
9
Justice Jayant Patel, Copyright enforcement in India and Global world, Vol. XLIII (2), GUJARAT
LAW REPORTER, Pg. 41 (2002).
10
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Study on Copyright Piracy in India, (1999).
16 | P a g e
due to illegal downloading and online piracy in various industries including film
industry, software industry and music industry. It has been a major problem for
nearly two decades. Sellers of digital products are actively fighting the
availability of pirated copies of their products, but despite more sophisticated
copy protection, the problem is still out there. 11

Technological advancement has increased phenomenally over the years. We can

say that we are in a digital age. This technology has a huge impact on the
copyright works, its creation, dissemination and protection. Digitization of work
has made it much easier to manipulate, reproduce and distribute protected works.
Moreover digital content can be mixed, altered and manipulated easily.12

India is a country which is perceived as a country with weak enforcement system.

One of the facts that elucidates this aspect is the continuously presence of India
in the Special 301 reports which deals with assessment of trading partners IP
protection and assessment. Need for Intellectual Property protection is necessary
not only for the creators but is also very important for foreign investment in the
country. Investors would not like to invest in countries where infringement of
Intellectual Property is high, and violations are rampant. Moreover, the movies
play a very important role in a country like India and are an important component
in the cultural life of Indians. For most of the Indian population, the disposable
income is very less hence movies are sometimes the sole means of entertainment.
Hence the participatory approaches and understanding the problem from
different perspectives are required to be explored and understood with regard to
the problem of online piracy in India.

Copyright infringement is a victimless crime. Such is the growing sentiment of

the growing population of Copyright pirates. Copyright infringement does have
victims, many in fact. Especially in the context of the motion picture industry

11
The Problem of Digital and Online Piracy, BARTLEBY RESEARCH, available at
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Problem-of-Digital-and-Online-Piracy-P3PABPPBZ6FS (Last
accessed on April 12, 2019).
12
Ibid.
17 | P a g e
where it often takes hundreds of people to make a single feature length film all
of them are hurt by unauthorised reproduction and distribution of motion
pictures.13 We presently have laws in India to tackle the issue of online piracy.
Moreover, the government has also undertaken some measures in different states
to curb the menace of online piracy. As the magnitude of the problem is huge, it
is imperative that a lot more work at various levels needs to be done so that the
effect of online piracy in the digital world is minimised if not mitigated entirely.
With this background and information, the researcher tries to access the situation
of online piracy in India and the laws existing at present to deal with online
piracy, the perception of the people of India and their mind set to tackle the given
problem. The researcher also tries to seek various legal and optimal solutions in
this regard.

1.4 Utility of the research

The study on the issue of online piracy of music and films is very significant as
it’s a burning issue of present times. It is noteworthy that the crime of Online
Piracy is not just an issue which is faced at the Indian level, but it is a global
issue which all the countries are facing at the global level. Moreover, by
observing the statistics stated by various reports, it is very evident that this crime
is on an all-time increase because of the boom in the digital technology which
has made copying very convenient and easy than ever before. Research on these
areas will be in the beneficial interest of the Copyright holders and it will boost
creativity in the country.

Creativity is the corner stone of measuring the socio economic and cultural
development in any nation. The need of the present time is that the Copyright
law should help the creative people on one hand at the same time it should not
cause hurdles for people who are accessing information online. Balance between
these competing interests is very essence of law. If this kind of research is

13
Rachel S. Leeds, Confronting Digital Technology: The Motion Picture Industry’s Battle with Online
Piracy, 5 J. HIGH TECH.L, 303 (2005).
18 | P a g e
undertaken than various policy reforms and optimal solutions in the field of
online piracy can be searched. Hence such research will be helpful to the creative
copyright holders, government, public, stakeholders etc. Moreover, we have at
regular intervals made changes to the Indian Copyright law by introducing
several amendments. The last amendment was made in the year 2012. In this last
amendment, changes have also been introduced to tackle the problem with regard
to digital platform. By incorporating these changes, it is very pertinent to study
whether there has been compliance of Copyright law or the Copyright law is
practiced more in violation than in compliance. Hence reviewing the legislation
is also very important. All this becomes possible only if such studies and research
are conducted in this area. Online piracy is certainly a very big challenge of the
present time and hence finding optimal solutions is the need of the hour.

1.5 Objectives of the research

The research in this field is undertaken keeping in view the following objectives:

1. Many people download movies, music and sound recording online

with a complete indifferent attitude and they care little about the theft
that they are doing. This objective of this research is to understand and
dwell on the question of such unauthorised downloads.
2. The objective of the research is to examine the incentives that
basically attract people to undertake and engage in the crime such as
online piracy.
3. The researcher seeks to examine the attitude of the people towards
online piracy and how their attitudes affect and influence their piracy
behaviour.
4. The objective of this research is to check the awareness of Copyright
law and examine the main reasons for rampant online piracy in India.
5. Time and again India is put on the high priority watch list by the
developed countries considering the level of online piracy that
happens in India. India is considered by these countries as one of the

19 | P a g e
 countries with a weak IP enforcement system. The objective of the
research is to find out if there are any lacunas in the present law
dealing with the issue of online copyright infringement.

1.6 Statistics of copyright piracy and pirated content over the internet
Given below are some of the statistics available from various sources which will
startle us and highlight the magnitude of the problem of online piracy.

Rampant violation of copyright regarding movies and music is not new. We hear
about several instances quite regularly. The movie ‘Udta Punjab’ was distributed
via internet even before its actual release. The cyber cell of Mumbai police on
receiving the complaint from the deputy general manager (legal) of the Phantom
Films Pvt Ltd. blocked the pirated version of the movie and arrested a man for
illegally uploading the movie on his site. The movie was apparently uploaded on
seven sites before its release.14 There is no doubt that piracy has eaten into the
business of cinema and it has affected films even before their release. The other
films which were affected by piracy are Great Grand Masti, Sultan in Hindi, and
24 and Kabali in Tamil. Meanwhile, 24 and Kabali’s leaks are said to have taken
place after the first day first show of the film. According to a press release issued
by Qube, the popular digital cinema provider, forensic watermarking showed
that 24 was illegally recorded during the morning show on its release day at a
popular multiplex chain’s screen in a Bengaluru mall.15

• With over 460 million internet users, India is the second largest online
market, ranked only behind China. By 2021, there will be about 635.8
million internet users in India. 16 Various estimates and figures from
various studies exist regarding the loss due to piracy but however it is

14
Online Piracy in India, available at http://lawfarm.in/online-piracy-in-india (Last accessed on April 5,
2017).
15
Sreedhar Pillai, The Piracy Nightmare, THE HINDU, available at
http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/The-piracy-nightmare/article14593263.ece (Last accessed
on April 5, 2017).
16
Internet Usage in India, Statistics and Facts, STATISTA RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, available at
https://www.statista.com/topics/2157/internet-usage-in-india/ (Last accessed on November 7, 2017).
20 | P a g e
 very difficult and hard to nail down the precise and exact figures. The
Statistics relating to online copyright piracy are stated here. The estimates
of piracy provided here are the estimates provided by various studies
conducted on piracy.
• In the year 2008, piracy costed the Indian film industry $959 million and
about 571,000 jobs.17The estimated yearly revenue loss globally is to the
tune of US$ 5-6 billion.
• According to article published in the WIPO Magazine the Indian film
Industry loses around INR 18,000 crores (US$3.34 billion) and some
60,000 jobs every year because of piracy. 18 (The KPMG Report titled
‘Media for the Masses: The Promise Unfolds’ (2017) also quotes the
same).
• The Telugu film industry lost about ₹360 crore in the first nine months of
the year 2016 due to online piracy. In all, there were about 1.80 crore
downloads or web streaming in that year so far. Viewers downloaded and
watched the four big budget movies like Baahubali, Srimanthudu,
Rudramadevi and Bruce Lee. These films were hosted through whopping
2,700 piracy links, making it virtually difficult for the industry to take
action.19
• According to yet another news line the big release Baahubali took the
maximum hits. With 1,485 active piracy links, the film has been
downloaded illegally 24.76 lakh times. The total revenue loss in these 17

17
Piracy cost Bollywood $ 959 m, TIMES OF INDIA, available at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Piracy-cost-Bollywood-959mReport/articleshow/5703165.cms
(Last accessed on April 5, 2017).
18
Rob Cain, India’s Film Industry – A $10 Billion Business Trapped in a $2 Billion Body, FORBES,
available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2015/10/23/indias-film-industry-a-10-billion-
business-trapped-in-a-2-billion-body/#5dd55fee70d2 (Last accessed on April 5, 2017).
19
KV Kurmanath, How Online Piracy ‘Industry’ is a Box Office Wrecker, BUSINESSLINE available
at http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/how-online-piracy-industry-is-a-boxoffice-
wrecker/article7851687.ece (Last accessed on April 5, 2017).
21 | P a g e
 months to the Telugu film industry stands at a whopping Rs. 1,064
Crores.20
• In the year 2018, big releases like 2.0, Simmba, Maari 2, fell prey to this
menace. According to Tecxipio, a German based data Analytics
Company, the interest in downloading Hindi movies increased by nearly
30 percent in four years between 2013 and 2017. Among the Hindi films
in 2018, Padmavat was most shared in P2P networks with 73 lakh shares
between January and June in 157 days. Other Hindi films that saw high
downloads and shares in that year include Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
(52.65lakh), Baaghi 2 (52.34 Lakh), padman(46.03 lakh), Raid (45.60
Lakh) among others.21
• Tamilrockers in 2019 are continuing with their notoriety and have
uploaded recent releases like Manikarnika: The Queen of
Jhansi, VRV aka Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven among others. These
films are openly available on the internet.22
• India is one of the top five countries with the highest peer-to-peer (P2P)
downloads taking place. Around 965 million P2P downloads took place
between January 2017 and May 2018.23

1.7 Research methodology

This study is basically a combination and blend of the doctrinal and
empirical research methods. The study required an in-depth

20
Saikat Pyne, India Loses $2.5 Bn to Online Movie Piracy every year, BUSINESS INSIDER available
at http://www.businessinsider.in/India-loses-2-5-Bn-to-Online
MoviePiracy/articleshow/53613620.cms(Last accessed on April 5, 2017).
21
Maryam Farooqui, Govt, Film Industry Continue war on Piracy but illegal online movie releases still
rampant, MONEY CONTROL, available at
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/entertainment/govt-film-industry-continue-war-on-piracy-
but-illegal-online-movie-releases-still-rampant-3379171.html(Last accessed on May 10, 2019).
22
Maryam Farooqui, In fight against piracy, music and film industry join hands with central govt,
MONEY CONTROL, available at https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/entertainment/govt-not-
alone-in-the-fight-against-piracy-music-and-film-industry-join-the-crusade-too-3496211.html (Last
accessed on May 28, 2019).
23
Irdeto Global Consumer Piracy Threat Report 2018, MoneyControl News, available at
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/india-one-of-the-top-5-countries-that-downloads-
pirated-content-says-report-2867151.html (Last accessed on November 5, 2019).

22 | P a g e
 understanding of the provisions of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 and
other laws dealing with piracy and its enforcement in the Indian scenario.
This research is based on the primary data as well as secondary data. The
primary data is collected by Questionnaire Method. In this the researcher
has got the questionnaire filled by 360 respondents. As means of
secondary sources of data various books, articles, judicial
pronouncements, law journals, international journals, news lines,
published reports, websites etc. have been referred according to the
requirement of the research. All of these have been duly cited at the
relevant places wherever their contents have been mentioned in the thesis.
The data collected i.e. primary as well as secondary data have helped the
researcher to test the hypothesis and answer the research questions raised
in this research.

1.8 Hypothesis
Based on the understanding of the problem at hand the researcher has
framed the following hypothesis:

• Hypothesis - Online Piracy is rampant in India.

• Hypothesis - Awareness on the issue of online piracy of films and music
is low in our country.
• Hypothesis - Enforcement mechanisms with regard to the Copyright Law
in India are weak.
• Hypothesis - There is a general perception among the net users that online
piracy is not unethical.

1.9 Research questions

Based on the hypothesis stated, the researcher has prepared the following
research questions stated below:

1. What are the incentives that attract people to undertake and engage in
online piracy?
23 | P a g e
 2. What is the attitude of the people towards online piracy and how their
attitudes influence their piracy behaviour?
3. Whether a person is aware of the Copyright law or is the lack of
knowledge the real reason for rampant online piracy in India?
4. Whether the existing measures and existing laws in India have been
successful in curbing or reducing the level of Copyright piracy in
India?
5. What alternative or non-legislative measures are required to be
undertaken for reducing the level of Piracy in India?
6. Whether the recent Copyright Amendments in 2012 have served to be
fruitful with respect to Copyright piracy?
7. Whether in Comparison with developed countries like USA, UK
should India adopt any of the measures which might be helpful in
combating the problem of Copyright Piracy?

1.10 Scope and limitations of the research

The researcher intends to investigate and figure out the causes of online
copyright piracy in India and modes of curbing the problem in India as
well as internationally.

The fundamental limitations to the research resulting from lack of time,

resources and money are as under:

• The researcher has done extensive literature survey but the researcher
could not study each and every literature with respect to the subject
matter.
• The researched intends to limit is scope to only the online piracy
market and has not covered areas such as physical piracy, book piracy
and various other types of copyright piracy.
• The researcher has made an empirical study of 360 questionnaires
filled up on the subject matter.

24 | P a g e
 • This research is therefore limited only to the selected problems posed
in this research.

1.11 Style of citations and reference

For generations, legal researchers, students of law, lawyers, scholars, judges, and
other legal professionals have relied on The Bluebook's unique system of citation
in their writings.

As the legal profession is changing rapidly, The Bluebook continues to maintain

a systematic and uniform standard of citations, to communicate important
information and the sources and legal authorities upon which they rely in their
research work. The researcher has followed “the Bluebook: A Uniform System
of Citation, Harvard Law Review Association” standards in the citations for this
thesis.

1.12 Literature review

To understand the problem in its true spirit and proper perspective the researcher
has done excessive review of literature on the topic and tried to understand the
magnitude and gravity of the problem in depth. Here are some of the books and
research papers reviewed by researcher.

• Arul George Scaria24(2014) talks of how the copyright law works at the
grass root levels. It looks at the social, cultural, historical, legal and
economic dimensions of copyright piracy in the Indian Film Industry.
This book is unique in the sense that it observes the problem of piracy
from various people’s perspectives. It also illustrates how the local factors
influence the copyright enforcement. It provides positive and negative
incentives with a view to increasing the enforcement and compliance of
copyright law in India.

24
ARUL GEORGE SCARIA, PIRACY IN THE INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY COPYRIGHT AND
CULTURAL CONSONANCE, (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
25 | P a g e
 • Lionel Bently, Jennifer Davis, Jane C. Ginsburg25(2013) deals with the
subject of copyright with an interdisciplinary approach. It deals with the
issue from the perspective of lawyers as well as non-lawyers. The
changing nature of copyright is such that copyright infringement cannot
be discussed with the perspective of one group of persons. In this
scenario, an interdisciplinary approach can be the best kind of approach.
Hence this book gave the researcher different perspectives on the issue of
copyright infringement. It considers the approaches and inputs of
economists, historians, technologists, sociologists, cultural theorists and
criminologists which were useful to the researcher in widening the
horizons regarding the issue of online piracy.
• Steven Caldwell Brown, Thomas J. Holt 26 (2018) focuses on non-
commercial digital piracy that has seen an unprecedented rise in the wake
of the digital revolution, with wide scale downloading and sharing of
copyrighted media online, often committed by otherwise law-abiding
citizens. This book brings together perspectives from criminology,
psychology, business, and adopting a morally neutral stance. This book
also offers a holistic overview of this growing phenomenon. It considers
its cultural, commercial, and legal aspects, and brings together
international research on a range of topics, such as copyright
infringement, intellectual property, music publishing, movie piracy, and
changes in consumer behavior. This book offers a new perspective to the
growing literature on cybercrime and digital security.
• Andrew C. Mertha 27 (2018) discusses piracy issues with specific
reference of China. China is by far the world's leading producer of pirated
goods from films and books to clothing, from consumer electronics to

25
LIONEL BENTLY, JENNIFER DAVIS, JANE C. GINSBURG, COPYRIGHT AND PIRACY: AN
INTERDISCIPLINARY CRITIQUE, (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
26
STEVEN CALDWELL BROWN, THOMAS J. HOLT, DIGITAL PIRACY: A GLOBAL,
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ACCOUNT, ( Routledge, 1.ed. April 2018).
27
ANDREW C. MERTHA, THE POLITICS OF PIRACY: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN
CONTEMPORARY CHINA (Cornell University Press, 1st. ed. April 2018).
26 | P a g e
 aircraft parts. As China becomes a full participant in the international
economy, its inability to enforce intellectual property rights is coming
under escalating international scrutiny. The author also talks about the
external pressures on China’s enforcement of intellectual property. The
structure of the administrative apparatus that is supposed to protect
intellectual property rights makes it possible to track variation in the
effects of external pressure for different kinds of intellectual property. The
author shows that while the sustained pressure of state-to-state
negotiations has shaped China's patent and copyright laws, it has had little
direct impact on the enforcement of those laws. By contrast, sustained
pressure from inside China, on the part of foreign trademark-owners and
private investigation companies in their employment, provides a far
greater rate of trademark enforcement and spurs action from anti-
counterfeiting agencies.
• Sreenivasulu N S28 (2018) explains the concepts of Intellectual property
and at the same time it covers different fields within the framework of
intellectual property including patents, designs, trademarks, trade secrets,
geographical indications, semiconductor chips and plant varieties. The
author has tried to discuss about each type of intellectual property which
is very useful. The book also covers analysis and presents a comparative
approach by giving insights into the laws in USA, Europe, UK and India.
The book is very informative and useful for the purpose of in-depth study
in the research area.
• Prashant Reddy T., Sumathi Chandrashekaran 29 (2017) talks about
the history of IP Laws in India. It also talks about how India has over the
period of time made its own IP laws taking into consideration the interest
of the nation and considering the various negotiations happening at a

28
SREENIVASULU N S, LAW RELATING TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, (Universal Law
Publishing, 2nd ed. 2018)
29
PRASHANT REDDY T. & SUMATHI CHANDRASHEKARAN, CREATE COPY DISRUPT:
INDIA’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DILEMMAS (2017).
27 | P a g e
 Global level. The 1950s and 1960s saw a churn in India's approach to IP
law. The Indian debates during the time had a global impact, but have
never been narrated to a larger audience, until now. Newer debates around
amendments to IP laws have also not received sufficient attention. These
are all stories that impact common lives, be it medicine, music, movies,
books, food, religion and the Internet. This book talked specifically on the
development of India’s intellectual property law and policy in modern
times. The various chapters in this book are focusing on different
industries and sectors such as pharmaceuticals, book publishing, cinema,
music, internet intermediaries, basmati rice, religion and traditional
knowledge. The book gives us perspective on various aspects like of
parliamentary debates, expert committee reports, interviews, archival
research and cases. Moreover, the book focuses on politics and history of
IP Policy rather than the black letter of the law.
• John Gantz, Jack B. Rochester 30 (2005) talks about how the digital
piracy touches each and every one even if we never downloaded an MP3.
This book talks about the war between the tech companies and the content
providers. The book focuses on various aspects of digital piracy and its
implications on economics, law, ethics, players etc. The book talks about
how the very foundation of digital media is shaken these days. It mentions
about the apparent war over digital piracy and intellectual property which
is being fought everywhere on earth. The authors have given their take on
the subject from every side: culture, ethics, law, business, even
geopolitics. The book talks about the term ‘fair use’, what it entails and
also talks about the morality of digital copying. It further elaborates the
aspects of how the digital media will survive, and whether the strict
copyright protection will protect creativity, or it will be detrimental. The

30
JOHN GANTZ & JACK B ROCHESTER, PIRATES OF THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM: HOW
THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WARS DAMAGE OUR PERSONAL FREEDOMS, OUR
JOBS, AND THE WORLD ECONOMY (2005).
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 book also talks about the future of copyright law and implications in the
digital world.
• Anirudh Rastogi31 (2014) provides a comprehensive understanding of
the cybercrimes in India and the laws governing information technology.
The book also gives an in depth understanding of the emerging areas like
cybercrime, intellectual property rights in cyberspace, e-contracts,
intermediary liability and electronic evidence. The book also informs
about state surveillance, virtual currencies, cloud computing, regulations
of social media and amplification, website terms and conditions and e-
governance.
• Garima Tiwari32(2014) gives a very nice understanding of the copyright
issues in the cyber space and the crimes happening in the digital era. In
the book the author has made use of several practical examples which are
encountered in our daily lives. The book talks of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 and various other laws regarding copyright,
trademark, evidence, and punishments thereof have been discussed which
altogether presents a very comprehensive understanding of the laws
dealing with the digital world and copyright. Major offences like hacking,
data theft, piracy, pornography, email fraud etc. have been elaborated
along with the relevant case laws and procedural issues.
• Apar Gupta33(2011) focuses on Information Technology Act, 2000. It is
a very informative and thoughtful and the legislative changes brought
about by the Amending Act of 2008 are extensively discussed. The
commentary critically analyses the impact of the amendments along with
the procedure to be adopted while acknowledging and dispatching of
electronic records, as also the safeguards one needs to adopt while

31
ANIRUDH RASTOGI, CYBER LAW: LAW OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND
INTERNET (1st. ed. Lexis Nexis, 2014).
32
GARIMA TIWARI, UNDERSTANDING LAWS: CYBER LAWS AND CYBER CRIMES, (1st ed.
Lexis Nexis, 2014).
33
APAR GUPTA, COMMENTARY ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT (2nd ed. LexisNexis,
2011).
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 conducting e-business. Today’s technology has become all pervasive and
comes into play with other enactments and branches of law. This book
reviews amendments, its need and scope in the given changed
circumstances is discussed.
• Manoj Kumar Sinha, Mahalwar Vandana34 (2017) addresses the key
issues, challenges and implications arising out of changes in the copyright
law and corresponding judicial responses. Using concrete examples, the
book does not assume any prior knowledge of copyright law but brings
together leading intellectual property researchers to consider the
significant role of copyright law in shaping the needs of the modern
digital world. It provides an insight into two distinct arenas i.e copyright
and digital media. This book provides an overview of the changing face
of copyright law especially in the modern digital age. It talks about the
correlation and conflicts between copyright and human rights. The book
also discusses and includes various suggestions for legal and policy
reforms in the area of copyright law at the national and international
level. The exponential increase in the ability to multiply and disseminate
information by digital means has sparked numerous conflicts pertaining
to copyright and in turn has prompted lawmakers to expand the scope of
copyright protection in the digital age. Bearing in mind the new questions
that the advent of the digital age has raised on the role and function of
copyright, the book presents a collection of papers largely covering new
frontiers and changing horizons especially in this area. The contributions
intensively address core issues including the exhaustion principle,
copyright and digital media, and liability of hosting service providers, the
originality requirement, accessibility to published works for the visually
disabled, criminalization of copyright infringement, and software
protection under copyright law, among others.

34
MANOJ KUMAR SINHA & VANDANA MAHALWAR, COPYRIGHT LAW IN THE DIGITAL
WORLD: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES, (1st. ed., Springer Singapore 2017).
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 • Eldar Habler 35 (2018) talks about how since the birth of criminal
copyright in the nineteenth century, the copyright system has blurred the
distinction between civil and criminal infringements. Today, in many
jurisdictions, infringement of copyrighted materials can result in punitive
fines and even incarceration. In this book the author analysis the
circumstances, justifications, and ramifications of the criminalization
process and tells the story of how a legal right in the private enforcement
realm has become over-criminalized. He traces the origins of criminal
copyright legislation and follows the movement of copyright
criminalization and enforcement on local and global scales. This book can
be of immense help to anyone who is concerned with the future of
copyright and intellectual property in the digital era.
• Robert Spoo36 (2013) tells the story of how the clashes between authors,
publishers, and literary “pirates” influenced both American copyright law
and literature itself. From its inception in 1790, American copyright law
offered no or less-than-perfect protection for works published abroad--to
the fury of Charles Dickens, among others, who sometimes received no
money from vast sales in the United States. American publishers avoided
ruinous competition with each other through “courtesy of the trade,” a
code of etiquette that gave informal, exclusive rights to the first house to
announce plans to issue a copyrighted foreign work. The climate of trade
courtesy, lawful piracy and the burdensome rules of American copyright
law profoundly affected transatlantic writers in the twentieth century.
This book features a colourful cast of characters made up of frustrated
authors, anxious publishers, and wilful pirates. The author also provides
an engaging history of the American public domain, a common shaped by
custom as much as by law, and of piracy’s complex role in the culture of
creativity.

35
ELDAR HABER, CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT (1st. ed. CambridgeUniversity Press 2018).
36
ROBERT SPOO, WITHOUT COPYRIGHTS: PIRACY, PUBLISHING AND THE PUBLIC
DOMAIN (1st ed. Oxford University Press, 2013).
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 • The Research paper by Brandon Hammer 37 (2014) gave a different
perspective on the problem of online copyright piracy to the researcher.
It gave insights into the robust copyright regime of India, lack of
enforcement in India, enforcement-based strategies and non-legal
strategies which can be adopted while dealing with the problem of online
copyright infringement.
• The Research paper by Sean B. Karunaratne 38 (2012) talks about
massive bit torrent piracy and it talks about how the online piracy has
evolved over a period and how bit torrent file sharing actually happens. It
also emphasises the importance and use of John Doe orders and
effectiveness and it stresses on the importance of applying minimum
requirements that mass lawsuits should adhere to in dealing with the cases
of copyright infringement.
• The Report39( 2008) is a study which is a widely cited report on piracy
in the Indian Film Industry. It helped the researcher to understand the
piracy statistics in the country. The report also talks about the effect of
piracy regarding both optical disk piracy and cable piracy, which
generally refers to the practice of illegally transmitting movies in local
cable television networks. This study classifies the piracy in the Indian
film industry into four types and they are optical disc piracy, internet
piracy, cable piracy and loss due to under declaration. This report
estimates the loss due to optical disk piracy as $171million per year. If we
look at the methodology used for arriving at this estimate, the first aspect
that comes to notice is that the study uses Motion Pictures Association of
America (MPAA) estimates as the base for their estimation. In other
words, they used the MPAA’s estimated loss in India as the starting point

37
Brandon Hammer , Smooth Sailing : Why the Indian Film Industry Remains Extremely Successful in
the Face of Massive Piracy, Harvard Law School Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, (2014).
38
Sean B Karunaratne, The Case Against Combatting Bittorrent Piracy through Mass John Doe
Copyright Infringement Lawsuits, Vol. 111, No. 2, MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW, 283 (2012).
39
Ernst & Young, The Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy on India’s Entertainment Industry (US- India
Business Council, 2008), referred to as ‘USIBC Study’.
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 for calculating the loss incurred by the Indian Film Industry in India.
Hence the effectiveness of the study needs to be checked in the Indian
context.
• The Report 40 (2018) talks about the piracy issue at global level. It also
deals with the acquisition with the acquisition and consumption of music,
films, series, books and games through the various legal and illegal
channels that exist nowadays, in a set of 13 countries in Europe (France,
Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden), the Americas (Brazil,
Canada) and Asia (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand). The
objective of this study was (i) to provide factual information about the
state of authorised and unauthorised acquisition and consumption of
content; (ii) to assess the underlying motives and mechanisms and the link
with enforcement measures and legal supply (iii) to assess the effect of
online piracy on consumption from legal sources.
• The Research paper by Joel Waldfogel 41 (2012) talks about the
digitisations, technological developments, digitization and Copyright. It
also talks about the product discoveries in the digital world. It emphasis
on the new business models that can be adopted with regard to the
copyrighted content in the digital world.
• The Report 42 (1999) is nevertheless important and exceptional in the
sense that data usually available is by the industry and consultants hired
by them. But this study is conducted by the Government and its officials.
This study highlights three major forms of Piracy in India regarding
movies. The first one is the piracy in the home video market. The study
observes that many video rental libraries use equipment’s like VCR to
create unauthorised copy of home videos and use them for rental and sale.
The study also points towards the wide availability of bootlegged versions

40
Institute for Information Law, Global Online Piracy Study, University of Amsterdam, (July 2018).
41
Joel Waldfogel, Copyright Research in the Digital Age: Moving from Piracy to the supply of New
Products, Vol. 102, No.3 THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, 337 (May 2012).
42
Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India) sponsored study on Copyright
Piracy in India (1999).
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 of new movies even before a producer assigns home video rights in the
film and observes that these further hampers the home video market. The
study talks about situations wherein unauthorised copies are made from
film disks sent abroad for release and many a times the illegal copies of
such disks reach back the Indian market in mass copies. The study also
talked about the situations where in a movie is copied inside a movie hall
with the cameras or other devices and the quality of prints in such
instances are generally very low. This study also focused on the cable
piracy which refers to illegal telecasting of movies by the local cable
television distribution firms through their network, The third category of
Piracy mentioned in the MHRD study is the unauthorised communication
of movies in public places, which the authors of the MHRD study refer to
as violation of ‘ancillary or commercial rights’. Hence the report gave the
researcher the idea of different forms of piracy existing in India. However,
with digitization and the ease of duplication cable piracy and video piracy
has also taken back seat and the online piracy has tremendously increased.
• The researcher referred the Report43 (2009) which states that the piracy
of film and video content through internet is significant in India. This
study also focuses the attention on the attitude of the consumers in India
towards piracy and it also deals with the data on internet piracy in India.
The study observes that the consumers in India have very little concern
about the ethical issues of piracy as well as the legal implications of
piracy. It further talks about the detrimental effects of piracy on people
within and outside the industry. Moreover, other aspect to be noted about
this study is the statistics shown relating to the usage of bit-torrents and
cyber lockers in India. The study observes that Indians not only are the
largest group of visitors to the Indian-content focused torrent sites but also
constitute the largest or second largest group of people who visit the five

43
India: Internet Piracy Landscape Audit, Motion Pictures Association, Sponsored study on Internet
Piracy in India (2009).
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 major international bit-torrent sites. Mininova, torrentz, the piratebay,
isohunt, and btjunkie are five major international bit-torrent sites
mentioned in the study. According to the analysis, Indians are the largest
group of visitors in torrentz and with regard to the remaining four, they
are second only to people from United States. The study also makes some
estimates regarding the use of cyber lockers for piracy. Cyber lockers are
websites that offer users space for personal storage of digital files and
some commonly used cyber lockers include Rapidshare and Putlocker.
Cyber lockers generally do not provide a keyword search facility in their
websites to identify the files stored by the users and unless a person gets
deep links into the files stored by the users, it may not be possible to
access the files. According to the estimates made by this study, 8.2
percent of the visitors to the top 10 cyber lockers in the world are Indian
users. However, the study does not mention anything about the
methodology used for the estimates, except for a statement that they were
tracking the IP address to which any of the six movies were downloaded.

1.13 Scheme and overview of the chapters

The below paragraphs highlight the scheme of the Chapters for the ease
of understanding:

Chapter 1: Introduction - The first Chapter deals with the introduction to

the topic of thesis. It includes the scope, objectives, limitations,
significance, utility, research questions etc. This Chapter also talks of the
methodology and the citation style adopted by the researcher. It also gives
the overall idea relating to subsequent chapters. In this Chapter, the
researcher has examined that how the internet and the broadband
connections have changed the dynamics of the problem of online
copyright infringement. The researcher has also focused on the statistics
of online piracy from national perspective. However accurate piracy
statistics are difficult to obtain. The researcher has given piracy figures

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which are cited by different reports dealing with the issue. Because
reports differ, and genuine piracy estimates are difficult to obtain, it
cannot be undermined the fact that the piracy does exist and the harmful
effect that it has on various stakeholders. Moreover, to understand the
problem in depth, the researcher reviewed literature in this regard from
various sources. Important books, articles and reports which the
researcher has reviewed are mentioned in this Chapter. While reviewing
the literature several questions were raised in the minds of the researcher
to which answers were sought. Based on this Chapter the researcher
framed the research questions and began the journey ahead to seek the
answers in that regard.

Chapter 2: Issues and Challenges faced by the Film and Music

Industries and factors influencing online piracy -This Chapter deals of
the meaning of Intellectual Property, the various kinds of Intellectual
Property that exists, the meaning of piracy and different types of Online
Piracy. This chapter also deals with the factors that influence online
piracy and the modes and ways by which the Piracy happens in the areas
of music, sound recordings and films. It also talks about the statistics of
piracy and how the entertainment and music industry work in general.
The researcher has also observed the working of the Entertainment
industry with special focus on Indian Film Industry and Indian Music
Industry. Moreover, the researcher has tried to understand the issues and
challenges faced by the Film and Music Industry, the meaning of
copyright infringement and justification for copyright protection.

The researcher also tried to understand the factors that influence online
piracy of music and films. In this regard, the researcher also discussed the
effects that the piracy has on the stakeholders like affecting the creative
owners, government, loss of tax revenue, deters the content creators from
creating new content, threats to cyber security etc. Moreover, the
researcher observed that there are various challenges faced by the Indian
36 | P a g e
Films as well as music Industry like low infrastructure penetration, slow
growth in average ticket price, complicated tax regime, rising cost and
lack of access to funding, piracy etc.

Chapter 3: Legislative and Non-Legislative framework for dealing with

online piracy in India and at International level – To understand any
problem in depth, it is very essential to understand the problem and the
existing mechanisms to combat on the issue of online piracy. If we are
not aware of the existing measures of tackling the problem, then we
cannot understand how those mechanisms can be improvised. This
chapter talks of the present legislative and non-legislative framework for
dealing with the problem of Online Copyright piracy. It gives a detailed
description as to the meaning and aspects regarding copyright
infringement, the history of the copyright law in India and the provisions
relating to prevent piracy under the Indian Copyright Law.

This Chapter also deals with the role of intermediaries and their liabilities
in India. It talks about the provisions in the Information Technology Act
and about the recent trend of John Doe orders and its implications in the
Indian context. It also focuses on various cases on online piracy.
Moreover, the Chapter also highlights the non-legislative measures
adopted to deal with the problem of online piracy. The researcher began
by talking about the history and origin of Copyright law in India.

The researcher has discussed various aspects regarding provisions with

regard to Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules,
2011. Role and liability of intermediaries is discussed. The recent trend
that is followed these days i.e. awarding John Doe orders and its use and
implication in a country like India is also considered. The researcher has
also discussed about the non-legislative measures adopted in India to deal
with the issue of online piracy. Copyright Protection laws have to be
certainly examined in terms of existing rules against the theft of Copyright

37 | P a g e
infringement on the online platform but at the same time the specific
international treaties that aim at dealing with piracy in a digital era also
require detailed analysis. In this chapter the researcher has also tried to
focus the attention on International conventions in the area of Copyright.
The higher judiciary’s approach towards the whole issue of online
copyright piracy is quite proactive. That can be seen by increased number
of John Doe orders and ex- parte orders granted by the Supreme Court
and High Courts. However there has to be some restraint on the part of
higher judiciary and it should sufficiently consider the impact of such
orders on legitimate activities. Dynamism of judiciary is a very positive
approach, but it should not result in adventurism by the courts.

Chapter 4: Online Piracy of music, sound recording and films:

Comparative Outlook – This Chapter talks of the international
perspectives of copyright infringement of online copyright piracy. It talks
about the issue of online piracy from the United States, United Kingdom,
China, France perspectives. The researcher has adopted a comparative
approach in this chapter. This chapter also talks about the case laws to
deal with the aspect of Copyright Piracy. It talks about the approaches and
punishments adopted by various countries when dealing with the issue of
Online Piracy. The researcher has also studied the legal position in
various countries like USA, UK, France, China and Canada. The
researcher in this chapter has also talked about the landmark cases on
online piracy. The researcher also observed how these countries are
tackling the problem of online piracy.

Chapter 5: Data analysis– This Chapter presents empirical analysis of

Online Piracy data done by the researcher through graphs etc. The
researcher had floated a questionnaire in this regard and has got
questionnaires filled up. In this chapter the researcher has tried to analyse
each and every question and to get various insights into the problem like
what the perceptions of the people with regard are to Copyright and the
38 | P a g e
issue relating to online piracy. The responses certainly gave the researcher
idea about the complexities of the problem and the way of working them
out.

Chapter 6: Conclusion and Suggestions – This is the final Chapter of the

thesis. It deals with the findings, suggestions and conclusions derived
from the present research work. In this chapter the researcher has tried to
include various best practices that can be adopted to reduce piracy levels
in the country. The researcher has done the testing of hypothesis as well
as has answered each research questions which were raised at the
beginning of the research. The researcher has also given the suggestions
and has given optimal solutions and reforms which can go a long way in
mitigating the issue of online piracy. Every research end opening the gates
for further research. Hence the researcher has done the same and ended
research talking about the way forward and the scope for further research
and study in the area of online piracy.

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