Say NO to Piracy

If you walk past shops dotting the underground alleys of Palika Bazaar, chances are you will no longer be greeted with the familiar hushed whispers from shopkeepers offering prints of the latest blockbuster or game CD. Though there have been several raids here in the past, a recent clampdown by the Delhi Police has put the fear of law in sellers of pirated copies of movies and games at Palika Bazaar. In a single seizure last month, the Delhi Police confiscated 1.5 lakh pirated CDs and DVDs, worth several crores of rupees from this market and elsewhere.What’s more, the police have made 12 arrests so far and registered cases under non-bailable sections of the Copyright Act of IPC. Some factories at Mongolpuri, Jheel, Mayapuri and Anand Parbat were also raided and trucks laden with fake inlay cards seized.Joint commissioner of police (crime and railways) Alok Kumar Verma said that the clampdown will be relentless. ‘‘We have been conducting raids for the past one month. There are some big fishes in the trade, who are still absconding. Soon, there will be more raids and seizures,’’ he said. This time, the Delhi Police has registered cases under Sections 52 A, 63 and 68 A, which constitute infringement of the Copyright Act. Earlier, most offenders used to get bail on the spot as the arrests were made under Section 292 (for selling obscene items) of IPC. According to industry sources, the film and music industry loses crores of rupees every year due to piracy, as 60% of CDs sold in India is illegal. The police conducted the raids at Palika with representatives of the Indian Music Industry (IMI), who said that the recent raids have affected the business of piracy in a big way. IMI secretary general Savio De’ Souza said: ‘‘Piracy has almost become a cottage industry — anyone having a couple of CD/DVD writers at home can manufacture pirated copies in bulk. The government loses more than Rs 100 crore in revenue due to piracy, while the music and film industry suffers a loss of Rs 2,000 crore every year. The recent raids, however, have hit the business hard.’’ Explaining how these pirates operate, a senior crime branch official said: ‘‘The overseas rights of any movie are sold first. The offenders usually get hold of a copy from the overseas market and bring it to India. Then, they can manufacture hundreds of copies from that print within minutes.’’ Between 2001 and 2004, IMI registered over 5,500 cases, seized over 10 lakh music cassettes and around 25 lakh CDs. ‘‘The overall trend has been that the seizure of CDs has increased, while that of cassettes has decreased,’’ said an official.‘‘It is very difficult to control piracy as the main players often work from far-off locations,’’ said another crime branch official. ‘‘Their profit margin can be in the range of 500-1000%. The cost of manufacturing an average-quality CD comes to Rs 10, inclusive of all expenses. These CDs are then sold at Rs 80-Rs 150,’’ he added. For a better quality CD, the cost of manufacturing is slightly higher. Said an IMI official, ‘‘A CD will cost the manufacturer 60 paise to Rs 3 in the grey market, depending upon its quality. Rs 1-2 is the expense for the inlay card and you add another Rs 2 for printing the title cover. Another Rs 2 goes in transport and shipping. So, in all, you incur Rs 9 to manufacture a fine quality pirated movie CD. These CDs are then sold at Rs 80-200, depending upon the market and customer profile.’’ For offenders in India, there are two ways to get hold of pirated prints. As a senior officer of intellectual property rights (IPR) section at the economic offences wing says, ‘‘The first method is to set up CD writers in houses and manufacture in bulk. This system is more prevalent due to a crackdown on big factories. Another method of piracy is when the CDs are smuggled in from countries like Nepal, China, Thailand and Singapore. We have seized several CDs in the past which were procured overseas. The quality of these CDs are very good and are usually sold at high prices.’’ The Delhi Police admits that though there has been a crackdown on the piracy business from time to time, it rears its ugly head again due to two main reasons — shortcomings in the copyright law and involvement of policemen. The illegal trade flourishes as local policemen are often hand in glove with the sellers of pirated material. Said a crime branch official: ‘‘These dealers usually give a commission to the local police. When pressure mounts on the police to conduct a raid, they tip off the dealer and some employee is arrested with few pirated CDs. He is later bailed out by his employer. The biggest piracy centres in Delhi are Palika Bazaar, Lala Lajpat Rai Market and Nehru Place.’’ This time, the police are planning to net the big fish as well. ‘‘Earlier, the owner of the shop used to get away by showing an agreement, which stated that the accused was responsible for carrying out the business from his premises. Now, the shop owner, the person who is party to the agreement, and the owner as per NDMC records — all of them will be booked for the offence. We have seized 13 shops at Palika Bazaar and a hunt is on for the owners,’’ says a crime branch official. The law-enforcers also find their hands tied, thanks to loopholes in the Act. Citing the case of a music company, found violating Section 52 A of the Copyright Act, a crime branch official said: ‘‘The Act calls for taking permission from the Censor Board to manufacture CDs for public viewing, but the company was exploiting a loophole in the law, claiming that the CDs they were manufacturing were meant for ‘private viewing’. The same CDs were finding their way into the open market though. The matter is being examined by us.’’ Even as the clampdown continues, pirates are finding new tricks to carry on their trade. Their new modus operandi is simple. They have stopped making pirated CDs and are circulating pendrives instead, which cost the same but are easier to carry. ‘‘In such a scenario, the only effective way to curb piracy is to create more awareness about intellectual property rights and copyright laws,’’ says a cyber law expert.