From fun to fines: India's meme marketing boom meets copyright heat

Remember when you casually shared the perfectly synced choreography of dance influencer Parveen Kumar Sharma on the viral hip-hop track Vartman? While it feels like harmless fun, sharing such content can unknowingly step on copyright infringement.

- Pratishtha Bagai

India's meme marketing boom, where pages earn lakhs per month promoting brands through witty, viral content, is built on a fragile foundation of widespread copyright violations, misinformation and regulatory grey areas.

What started as a fun, low-cost way for brands to tap millions of young social media users has surged into a ₹3,000 crore industry by 2025, says equity firm Equentis. "When I started this page for fun in 12th standard in 2014, I never anticipated that it would become a lucrative business due to paid promotions," said Archit Madaan, founder of The Indian Sarcasm, a meme page turned marketing agency.