Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023: An Invasion On Piracy

Introduction

Films have always been a great source of entertainment for the masses. While the budgets infused into films/cinema, multiplexes have gone up exponentially, films and people involved in making such films have always suffered due to the overwhelming presence of "piracy". The Supreme Court in State of Andhra Pradesh v Nagoti Venkataramana¹ aptly put across the advent of piracy in films stating:

"Piracy has become a global problem due to rapid advances in technology. Mainly there are three types of piracy, namely, piracy of the printed word, piracy of sound recordings and piracy of cinematograph films. The object of the pirate in all such cases is to make quick money and avoid payment of legitimate taxes and royalties."