Fortifying the ‘Film’sy Structure

Fortifying the ‘Film’sy Structure

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Industry doyens and media law experts mull over the legal alternatives and framework to curb piracy and plagiarism in the Indian entertainment industry. Vidisha Jha reports the proceedings of the discussion.

Day 2 of FICCI Frames 2010 witnessed larger discussions eyeing on the legal and financial aspects of the entertainment industry. The panel of speakers highlighted the importance of copyrights and protection through copyrights. It was stated giving example that Fox Studios has been very successful in the past in suing production houses if their content was copied without acquiring adequate legal rights.

The initial phase of the discussion showcased protection and copyrights of the entertainment industry in the USA and the UK. It happens most of the times that a film made in local language in some part of the world is tapped by Hollywood and big production houses that pay enormous amounts for copyrights to acquire remake rights or the rights to possess it. A welcoming change that is still not quite known to the world is that Hollywood at times uses formats of Hindi movies and purchases copyrights for its remake, and this certainly is a welcoming change as Hollywood is considered to be the centre of the universe.

Consultant Dina Dattani opined that India needs to get rid of the tag of piracy and plagiarism. She said that although India was increasingly becoming compliant with the global legislations, there was a need to open its doors to give remake rights and obtain picture licenses.

Addressing another subject of a producer’s perspective on legal issues, Karan Ahluwalia, Executive VP, Yes Bank, spoke about the willingness of banks to fund the film industry. He said that there should be ideation for new products such as syndicated bank film financing structure. Last two years has seen many corporate activities as a part of the film industry which has led to a change in the business model of film-making. But something that needs to be changed immediately is the legal framework of film making in India. The framework should be such that it should support in the recovery of losses, if any, incurred by a film.

To which another question was raised, how to secure current finance for a production? Ahluwalia answered, “In the reinvented Indian film model, money should come from corporate houses raising the funds. These corporate giants can be money lenders, banks or even corporate houses. Money is out there, but it’s important that it is put in the right framework so everyone gets a fair share.”

Talking of the current laws in the country, Ashni Parekh, Legal Consultant, said that India has come a long way in adopting international practices. This in turn has made the media world more professional in terms of documentation. It is important that rights of documentation are protected for authors, writers, producers like it is done internationally. Parekh added that enforcement of the Copyright Act is creating a problem because arbitration becomes a long and hassled process. Although some of the rights exist in Indian entertainment context, but ensuring the rights are in-force will ensure international standards for the Indian Entertainment Industry.

 

There is a huge appetite of banks for lending money to media businesses. Indian corporates have added structure to the financial framework of the Indian Entertainment Industry. Institutions like Vistaar Religare have already begun boosting the financial framework of the media industry. What still remains on the part of the government’s responsibility, is to ensure that our film makers get the necessary boost and the revenue required to produce great movies without a hitch.

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