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Piracy eating away music industry`s profits: IMI
New Delhi, Mar 10: Domestic music companies are in dire straits due to burgeoning piracy and they may suffer a death blow if the law enforcement agencies, including police and judiciary, do not contribute their share to crush the menace, says Indian Music Industry (IMI) president V J Lazarus.
New Delhi, Mar 10: Domestic music companies are in dire straits due to burgeoning piracy and they may suffer a death blow if the law enforcement agencies, including police and judiciary, do not contribute their share to crush the menace, says Indian Music Industry (IMI) president V J Lazarus.
Pointing out that the music industry has lost Rs 1,800 crore in the past three years due to piracy, Lazarus described the current situation as alarming because the music companies have been forced to curtail investments in promoting new artists and marketing new titles.
The decay of the music industry will lead to mass unemployment and despair among the artists, who will no longer be encouraged to look at music as a serious profession, Lazarus told a news agency here.
Besides the music companies and the government, who suffer major losses on account of piracy, the other victims are the artists and local culture, he added.
Of 4.9 crore cassettes manufactured and sold every month, nearly 1.6 crore are illegally made and sold by pirates. As a result, the government exchequer suffers a loss of Rs 75-100 crore every year in the form of sales duty and tax, he added.
Despite being identified as a criminal offence, piracy has not yet been effectively controlled, Lazarus said and called for stricter regulations to curb piracy and save financial losses.
Admitting that police authorities have been very cooperative in the anti-piracy campaign, he said there is a lot more that needs to be done to improve the situation.
Besides sensitising the police officials against burgeoning piracy, he said, the public cooperation will be vital in curbing this menace.
The IMI anti-piracy wing has recorded 5,247 criminal cases and brought to book 3,737 people engaged in piracy in the past three years. Of this, only 253 cases ended in conviction and in 36 cases long prison sentence or heavy fines have been awarded.
Lazarus lamented that the low rate of penalties does not act as a fitting deterrent for piracy. ''The need of the hour is severe punishment against piracy,'' he added.
A consortium of more than 50 music companies, IMI strives to protect the rights of phonogram producers and, in the process, promotes music.
Bureau Report
Despite being identified as a criminal offence, piracy has not yet been effectively controlled, Lazarus said and called for stricter regulations to curb piracy and save financial losses.
Admitting that police authorities have been very cooperative in the anti-piracy campaign, he said there is a lot more that needs to be done to improve the situation.
Besides sensitising the police officials against burgeoning piracy, he said, the public cooperation will be vital in curbing this menace.
The IMI anti-piracy wing has recorded 5,247 criminal cases and brought to book 3,737 people engaged in piracy in the past three years. Of this, only 253 cases ended in conviction and in 36 cases long prison sentence or heavy fines have been awarded.
Lazarus lamented that the low rate of penalties does not act as a fitting deterrent for piracy. ''The need of the hour is severe punishment against piracy,'' he added.
A consortium of more than 50 music companies, IMI strives to protect the rights of phonogram producers and, in the process, promotes music.
Bureau Report