MUMBAI: After launching its operations in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) has taken its anti piracy initiative , the Music Mobile Exchange (MMX), to West Bengal.

The initiative which was flagged off in Bengal on 6 September will target four regions- Siliguri, Kolkata, Hooghly and Howrah. Says IMI Secretary General Savio D'Souza, The mobile chip piracy market in West Bengal is Rs three to five billion, crore which makes it a huge market. There is a high density of mobile downloads in Bengal hence it was apt to carry out initiatives in this region."

The IMI has a large number of its member labels in Punjab and West Bengal and is counting on the support from the law enforcement agencies there.

The MMX currently has seven music members as its partners — Saregama, Aditya Music, Tips, Venus, EMI, Sony and Universal — which account for a significant share of the copyright titles being pirated.

Regions like Punjab and West Bengal are artiste driven areas in terms of music. In West Bengal, Saregama accounts for 50-60 per cent of the Bengali non film music that is produced.

MMX envisages the issuing of legitimate MMX license that enable mobile stores and shopkeepers to sell music without violating the Copyright Act.

MMX has already issued 650 licenses in Andhra Pradesh and has also partnered with 700 Hotspot mobile stores where copyright music would be sold. IMI is holding negotiations with other mobile stores as well.

IMI has registered more than 1000 cases against mobile chip piracy thus far.  If convicted for mobile piracy, the punishment ranges from six months to three years and fines from Rs 50,000/- to Rs 2,00,000/-. According to IMI, the music industry of India losses more than Rs 30 billion each year, only through mobile chip piracy which includes products like ring tones, true tones, ring back tones, full song mobile downloads, music videos etc.

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