I&B ministry appoints officers to curb online piracy of movies

A COMPLAINT CAN BE MADE TO THE NODAL OFFICER BY THE OWNER, MEMBER OF PUBLIC ON COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

- Aditi Agrawal

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has designated nodal officers who can directly instruct intermediaries such as YouTube and Facebook to take down copyright-infringing content. These takedown orders will be limited to content that is certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), that is, movies in their entirety. The move is aimed at curbing piracy which costs the Indian film industry ₹20,000 crore annually, according to MIB.

This means nodal officers can now order a YouTube channel to take down an infringing version of Jawan' but not 'Toothpari since the latter is a streaming-only show. And CBFC certifies songs as only a part of the movie, not independent of it. Showing the video of the 'Kal Ho Na Ho' song itself is not under CBFC's domain but showing it as a part of the movie is.