MUMBAI: The Motion Picture Dist. Association (MPA), formed in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II to re-establish American films in the world market, has now made its presence felt in India by being instrumental in conducting as many as 400 anti-piracy raids all over India in 2008.
Quoting a US India Business Council/Ernst & Young report on ‘The effects of counterfeiting and Piracy on India‘s Entertainment Industry‘ MPA managing director Rajiv P Dalal says, “The Indian film industry lost US $ 959 million and 571,896 jobs due to piracy in 2008. We at MPA have been playing a silent role since some time and. Our activities will gain momentum once the general elections are over.”
“We are happy that the country‘s President, Pratibha Patil, has given her consent to the Maharashtra Government to enact a law wherein both the seller and the buyer of a pirated CD/DVD would straightaway be sentenced to three months of prison without bail if caught red-handed. A fine would not be as rigid a punishment as a three-month sentence,” reasons Dalal. “However, all will depend upon the enforcement,” Dalal hopes.
Talking about educating the masses about the anti-piracy initiative, Dalal avers, “A film celebrity pleading his fans to stop buying pirated CDs/VCDs is very much prevalent in the South and has been working effectively. I don‘t see any reason why such an initiative wouldn‘t work here in Maharashtra.”
The Motion Picture Dist. Association comprising Hollywood Studios like Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLLP, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, has been, all along, working closely with local industry, government, law enforcement authorities and educational institutions to protect the film and television industry. It has also been rigorously playing an important role in eradicating piracy across the world.
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