THE Indian Music Industry (IMI), in association with Holoflex, has launched a series of initiatives to curb piracy.
At a seminar in Mumbai on Thursday, various representatives of the industry advocated the need to enforce security measures and called upon consumers to buy only original CDs and music cassettes. The IMI is organising a series of such seminars in the major metros to educate consumers.
"The entire music industry has been greatly affected by this menace (piracy), and it had become imperative that we implement the use of holograms to be able to completely eradicate the problem," said Mr V.J. Lazarus, President, IMI. "We also hope that every consumer feels responsible and makes a conscious effort to buy an original music cassette or CD." Besides music companies and the Government, artists and indigenous music have also suffered losses due to piracy, added pop singer Shaan Mukherjee.
However, despite being identified as a serious criminal offence, piracy has yet not been effectively controlled - and this is where consumers and new technologies like holograms can play a part, said Mr Julio Ribeiro, Chief Coordinator, IPR. "The use of holograms will not only help the enforcement agencies, but also every consumer to identify what they are paying for," he said.
The IMI is a consortium of over 50 regional and national music companies; its association with Holoflex began in 1999. Holoflex has conducted workshops to educate IMI's internal task force on holograms, which are tamper-proof, cannot be reproduced and are also cost-effective.
According to the IMI, the music industry has incurred losses of over Rs 1,800 crore over the past three years; industry representatives estimate that out of 4.9 crore cassettes manufactured and sold every month, nearly 1.6 crore are illegally manufactured.
The IMI has suggested various measures to tackle piracy: make infringement a non-bailable offence; increase the term of imprisonment and the amount of the fine; regulate the manufacture and replication of optical discs; training of customs, police and judicial officers on copyright laws and piracy issues; and other cross industry initiatives.
Mumbai, September 11
