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News |  18 Oct 2010 13:10 |  By anil

Copyright Act 2010 needs balance: ICRS

MUMBAI: At a seminar and panel discussion for amendments to be made in the Copyright Act 2010, Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandary has called for unauthorized use of original works to be stopped, while Shekhar Menon, President ICRS, wants the amendment bill to be not only less Bollywood-centric, but also more balanced in terms of equal rights or share to authors and stakeholders.

Entitled �Content-in-transition - Regulatory & Economic Perspective,' the seminar, held in Mumbai on Saturday, addressed serious issues on the implications of the Copyright Bill 2010 and the monetization of the Intellectual Property rights among Creative fraternity and the Investors / Producers, the seminar was presented by ICRS in association with ASSOCHAM and other Industry bodies of Media & Entertainment sector. It was attended by legal and media and entertainment industry professionals across Music, Broadcasting, finance, marketing and programming, and from the professional education sector.

Vijay Lazarus represented the music industry as President of IMI  T. Suresh, Country Head - EMI Music shared his views as a Music label head, and Sameer Nair, CEO, Turner General Entertainment India, as a broadcaster 

Advocate Saveena Sachar spoke of issues vital to the Radio industry 

Writer-director Andalib Sultanpuri, son of Majrooh  Sultanpuri, was present as an author and Shamir Tandon as a music composer. Others present were advocates Sanjay Kadam, Ameet Naik,  Prasanna Venkatesh, along with advocate Pragyan Sharma from the Supreme Court and also EVP of ICRS, along with Rakesh Nigam,  CEO - IPRS  and Anuradha Maheshwari, Director - Narsee Monjee Institute of IPR, represented the educationists, considering the Copyright subject has become vast and students who are passing out need to be acquainted with the subject of Media Laws.

Hon. Justice. Dalveer Bhandary, Judge, Supreme Court who inaugurated the seminar, observed that unauthorized use of the original work should be stopped, as modern technology can create havoc if it is not brought under Law.... He added: Respect for the genuine work is a must as there should be a change in the mindset – not to use pirated goods....

Shekhar Menon, President, ICRS, told RnM: I am of the view that Copyright Amendment should be balanced. The Bill needs to be more balanced with equal or right share given to the authors as well as the stakeholders.

The bill majorly focuses on Bollywood,... Menon said, adding, We need to take into consideration all the authors and creators from North-east and other southern states. Here, we are talking clearly about the moral right versus economic right....

Vijay Lazarus, President, Indian Music industry & Phonographic Performance Ltd., expressed his discontent, saying: The bill is completely silent, as stake holders were not taken into consideration....

Nair said that broadcasters,  who invest in the contents of the program, commercially exploit the IPR on different platforms  across the globe, and completely respect the laws of each country. Nair called for greater public awareness in India about the Copyright Law.

Elaborating on the need for the amendment bill to be less Bollywood-centric and more balanced, Menon said, India is a vast country and today Hindi is also a regional language,  but big in size. Even within that, you have Bhojpuri and other state divisions. Therefore  the Amendment of Copyright  should have a balanced approach and should be widely represented from different regions.

If stake holders are ignored, there cannot be any opportunity for authors also. In my view,  both are complimentary to each other. High and low exist in both groups,  so balancing is very important  If  some authors are poor then there are producers who also who are paupers. For instance , Dada Sahib Phalke (1870-1944), the Father of Indian Cinema, died a pauper in Nashik....

Menon said, Our aims and objectives includes extensive research and studies on Copyright subject in comparison to the global norms of developed countries, to collect information by conducting seminars / workshops etc and to advice the end users on the matters related thereto....

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