Catching the pirates
Finally, the judiciary has come heavily on piracy.
In a judgement that is expected to have far reaching impact on the film rental business in India, Justice Ravi Khetrapal of the Delhi High Court passed orders restraining the rental library Cinema Paradiso from renting out any films copyrighted by Motion Picture Association (MPA) member companies including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Orion Pictures Corporation.
Cinema Paradiso currently has operations in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, and had plans to open branches in other Indian cities including New Delhi and Mumbai. Cinema Paradiso has allegedly claimed on its website that it was India's first DVD store with all licences, incorrectly implying that it was authorised to rent MPA member company films to members of the public. Chander M. Lall, Head of Operations and legal counsel for the MPA in India, said, "Although copyright law does not permit unauthorised rental of films, rental libraries are functioning all over the country without licences and without the authorisation of copyright owners."
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram