In what is going to come as an enormous reduction for the movie trade, the Union Cabinet authorised amendments to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, on Wednesday. This has been aimed toward curbing the menace of movie piracy and comprehensively addressing the problems regarding movie certification. Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur, stated the invoice could be launched within the upcoming session of Parliament and added that it’s aimed toward guaranteeing that the movies don’t undergo attributable to piracy, because the menace causes heavy losses to the trade.
In easy phrases, the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023 will entail that the unauthorised recording and exhibition of movies in film theatres is now an offence. Also, now the federal government can block web sites the place unauthorised copies of movies are transmitted.
A MUCH-NEEDED MOVE
Central Board of Film Certification member Vani Tripathi Tikoo tells us, “This was long overdue. I have been constantly saying that the Act is not just crying out for an amendment but that the character of the content has also changed. In fact, film piracy should be a criminal, non-cognisable offence. You must realise that cartel industries across the world, whether it’s drugs or mafia, in so many countries, have been connected to film piracy.”
HAPPY WALLETS
The modification has been welcomed by makers, particularly producers, because it’s their cash at stake when a movie is made. Producer Boney Kapoor, whose 2022 Tamil movie Valimai was leaked by pirates on web sites instantly after the discharge, calls it “a much-needed, positive step”. Shibasish Sarkar, president, Producers Guild of India, says: “This will help to curb the menace of film piracy and introduce age-based categories for certification for uniform categorisation of films across all platforms.”
Prominent lawyer Hitesh Jain, who was instrumental in representing the pursuits of the leisure trade, says, “This is a pathbreaking development. These amendments will make the system very process-oriented. Also, age-based categorisation in the UA certification is a very progressive step.”
Source: www.hindustantimes.com