The 14th Mumbai Film Festival has joined forces with former Deputy Inspector General of Police and Mumbai-ATS chief A A Khan to fight against film piracy. Khan's association, AA Khan and Associates, is one of the pioneers in the anti-movie piracy drive in the country.
This association is aimed at creating a tenable contingency measure to protect the interests of film production companies, independent producers, film distributors and cinema operators participating in the Mumbai Film Festival from the ever looming threat of piracy. The festival is presented by Reliance Entertainment and American Express and organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).
In a statement, MAMI said, “Like every other art form in contemporary times, the sustenance of film-making also relies on its profits. Today, film piracy has become the biggest and most insidious threat to the future of cinema worldwide. Delinquents have taken to the internet as platform to ensure the systemic destruction of traditional forms of distribution channels such as DVDs and cinema halls, consequently denying creators of the content of their fair share of proceeds and causing a loss of billions of dollars annually worldwide.”
Incidentally, India is ranked as one of the most thriving markets for film piracy, especially camcording-related operations. While the Government and other concomitant agencies have made progress in developing response procedures to copyright infringement, the notoriety of film piracy in India still manages to discourage film-makers from submitting their films at film festivals hosted in the country.
On his association with the festival, Khan said, "We are proud to partner with MAMI for the prestigious 14th Mumbai Film Festival and helping them fight the menace of piracy. Over the past decade piracy in all forms has become quite rampant across the globe and it is important that people, organisations, policy makers as well as keepers of the law work together to eradicate this problem that affects the social and economical ethos of our country and the world."