Copyright laws and its violations are perhaps one of the most discussed topics in the world today. Why do copyright laws work in spurts across the world? If the laws are as important as it is made out to be, then how come it is not universal? Why do developing countries blatantly disregard it? These are only but a few questions commonly raised in connection with the copyright laws and cases of its infringement. From the perspective of a developed country, these violations are nothing short of robbery. It is unacceptable and it’s punishable. However, what is interesting to note that halfway across the globe, an almost lax attitude is adopted with regards to them. There, everything is passé. Copyright laws are not even acknowledged for them to be enforced.
This post deals with the sham that is being played out in the name of copyright laws in India. Mistake not, for the Indian constitution has clearly defined copyright laws and what amounts to its infringement. However, what’s remarkable is how these violations are being selectively perceived. While on one hand, industries like the Information technology adopts stringent measures over it, others like the entertainment industry, be it music, movies or even the news industry, seems to be turning not just a blind eye, but a deaf ear too, to these violations. What is even more curious is how these violations are being branded and sold under the proud banner of ‘inspiration’.
The Copyright Act of 1957 provides copyright protection in India. It confers copyright protection in the forms of (a) economic rights of the author, and (b) moral Rights of the author. A detailed account of the Indian copyright laws can be accessed from the government website. A website of the legal services of India which details matters regarding to copyright violations states that ‘The copyright does not protect the idea but it does protect the skill and the labour put in by the authors in producing the work. A person cannot be held liable for infringement of copyright if he has taken only the idea involved in the work and given expression to the idea in his own way. Two authors can produce two different works from a common source of information each of them arranging that information in his own way and using his own language. The arrangement of the information and the language used should not be copied from a work in which copyright subsists.’ This perhaps is what has been taken by the infringers to defend their work. As mentioned earlier, it is a common practice by professionals, particularly in the entertainment industry, to claim that their work is not copied but merely inspired by the original. Well and truly, a bunch of pasticheurs. The videos below will probably speak louder than any of my words ever can in illustrating just how far this game of ‘inspiration’ has gone. The first video is that of a popular Indian song which was released last year. However, as I discovered through YouTube, the song is a direct rip off from a Korean song which was released many many years ago.
The music director in question has been ‘inspired’ time and again and many sites like YouTube carry compilations of his inspirations. Worse still, he has received national and state recognition for his inspirational efforts, though it’s evident that the masses are not aware of his blatant copyright violations.
Not very different is the scenario in the film industry, where every month atleast one ‘remake’ or ‘similar storyline’ to a movie made earlier is churned out. An illustration of just how badly copyrights are violated is provided in the videos below. The first one is from an Indian movie, followed by the Korean movie from which it was copied shamelessly, shot by shot.
As is the case with the music industry, here again it is the ignorance of the public that these film makers are playing with. The average Indian audience watched only Indian movies, listens to Indian music and is generally unaware about foreign films and music and therein lies the violators’ trump card. However, even if the audience were educated about foreign films, the choice that these ‘inspired’ lots have is so vast that nailing them would be next to impossible. Bollywood movie inspirations is an interesting website that has tired to keep track of all the ‘remakes’ that are being churned out in Bollywood. If nothing else, it makes for an interesting read.
If one thought that these violations are restricted to just the entertainment industry, then they got it wrong. As more people are becoming aware of these laws, more violations are being spotted everywhere, even in the news industry, which we normally assume is abreast of these issues. Allegations of leading national dailies like The Times of India “borrowing” photographs to supplement their story, violating the rights of the photographers are surfacing everywhere now. Citizens who now see their work published without any credit, not to mention monetary compensation, attributed to them are enraged about this. They are blogging about it, drawing the attention of the editors to it and doing everything possible to draw pubic attention to it and probably to get a compensation for their efforts, yet all their pains go in vain because of the lack of support from law in enforcing it.
The lack of implementation of copyright laws has led to the emergence of another industry – the pirated industry. The Indian markets are flooded with pirated version of books, movies, music, software and just about any object that can be and are copyrighted. The pirated goods are not sold on the sly but openly in the market. It’s available at roadside stalls, exhibitions and even at leading book chains, where the manager ever so smilingly asks you if you would prefer the original or the pirated version. In most cases, both the versions are so alike that the only thing that sets them apart is the cost of the product which differs at least by about 200 INR, which automatically makes the pirated version more attractive. Even products that have been officially withdrawn by its makers are freely available in the pirated market. The website of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) gives a detailed account of just how bad the situation is.
What I have mentioned above are not just the only industries where copyright breaches are rampant. I have used these examples for they are easily identifiable. If truth be said, copyright violations are almost like a way of life in India, with almost no sector being completely free from it.
When there is so much of violation and so openly done, its natural for the rest of the world to wonder as to why nothing is being done redress the situation, why copyright enforcement is such a problem in India. However, on closer examination, it becomes evident that things are not what they seem and that there are things that happen behind the surface that is letting the situation be.
The most basic reason for this is the lack of knowledge about copyright issues. The average Indian is sadly unaware of the whole concept of copyrights and this ignorance has been exploited by the ‘knowledgeable few’. The ignorance works in two ways, for it not only allows the offenders to get away with it, but it also paves the way for more copyright infringements. As people are unaware of this concept, they do not think twice about ripping off another creative work, as J K Rowling and company recently found out. When the maker of Harry Potter found out that her concept of Hogwarts was being unashamedly copied, she filed a suit against the offenders who pleaded guilty to the charges levied against them on account of ignorance. This is no clever lawyer at work, for as mentioned earlier, the average Indian is sadly unaware of the existence of copyright laws.
The slow judicial system is perhaps the second biggest reason for the overlook of copyright violations. According to latest reports, the Indian judicial system is 466 years behind schedule. People are aware that going to court is a lengthy process with does not guarantee your victory, even if it’s your copyrights that has been violated. Besides being lengthy, the whole court process is financially taxing too, thereby deterring even those against whom injustice has been committed. As expressed by an enraged blogger who found her pictures in a national daily, ‘Ms. Poonam singh (the editor of the daily) clearly told me that as a next step I could even go to lawyers and that this case will then be forwarded to the legal department of TOI.’ Extreme faith in this slow judicial system gives the violators hope.
Yet another reason, though slightly controversial, is the alleged support of the biggies who have been breached. The article that appeared in the Business Week, which presented a case as to why Microsoft should welcome piracy of its good in India and China, is perhaps the best demonstration of this point. As the article points out, the only person who stands to lose from complaining against the breach of copyrights is the person themselves, for indirectly by enforcing strict copyright rules, they are driving their customers to the lap of their competitors who might not be so uptight about copyright issues. There is an assumption that the film and music industry also follows the same route and have turned copyright law suits into marketing tactics. Realising that India is a huge unconquered market, foreign film and music companies are using the route of copyright law suits to draw attention to themselves and the product they represent. A classic example of this is the suit that Sony filed against David Dhawan, the producer of the Indian blockbuster film ‘Partner’ which was an obvious copy of the Hollywood film ‘Hitch’, a first for the Bollywood film industry. The video below how obvious the infringement was.
What is curious is that despite the furore when the copyright infringement was discovered, there was no follow up news of the same. The only thing that came out of it is that the average Indian, who had not heard of Hitch before, became aware of it and even went out and bought the movie, earning the production company an income it had not anticipated. However, with more foreign production houses wanting to stick their fingers into the Indian pie, this situation might not go unaddressed for long, for they will want a share of the revenue being earned ‘remaking’ their movies. A speech delivered by Thomas Babington Macaulay is an interesting read in this regard, for it projects what the West think about copyright laws and how it ought to be enforced.
On the whole, it looks like it will be a struggle to get the copyrights act in motion. What has been discussed in this post is but only a drop in the ocean. Nonetheless, the move to educate the masses has begun and their reactions are trickling in. Personally, I feel that copyright laws and their enforcements are the luxury of developed nations. In a country where people are struggling to put a roof over their heads, it will be a long time before the masses get sensitised to issues like copyright laws. Currently we have bigger problems to deal with.
