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New Delhi - Stronger enforcement of copyright laws and educating audiences are a must if Bollywood wants to reduce millions of dollars in losses incurred every year because of piracy, says a top Hollywood official.
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Hawkers selling cheap pirated CDs and DVDs on busy Indian streets find easy patrons among many cost-conscious consumers who pay less than $1 for a disc instead of going to a multiplex with tickets priced at about $3.
Industry estimates say this means more than $400 million dollars in revenue loss for India's entertainment industry. Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by ticket sales, is worth about Rs.8500 crore ($2.15 billion) and is forecast to more than double to Rs.17500 crore ($4.43 billion) by 2011.
"The industry needs strong laws to support copyright, strong enforcement of those laws and stiff sentences for people who violate those," Dan Glickman, the president of Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) said at a seminar in New Delhi this week.
The MPAA, which represents the interests of major motion picture companies in the global market, estimates copyright theft cost $1.2 billion in lost revenue in the Asia-Pacific region last year, with annual worldwide losses at $6 billion.
Bollywood films' growing popularity abroad has fed a thriving bootleg industry in countries such as Britain, the United States and Pakistan.
Don't expect the expected from Dibakar Banerjee.
A top U.S. official on Monday urged India and other large emerging economies to ...
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