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Centre considering stringent IPR regime: I&B secretary

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Press Trust of India Mumbai
Last Updated : Mar 21 2017 | 6:48 PM IST
Information and Broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal today said the government was pushing for a stringent Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) regime to protect the interest of the media and entertainment industry.
"At the core of the health of this industry lies the ability to protect intellectual property (IP) both for the content creator and distributor, who look to monetise content. We continue to push towards ensuring that IP laws are implemented and guard the industry against piracy," he said at the FICCI Frames here.
He said the ministry was in talks with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the implementation of a new national IPR policy and will be constituting a copyright board to introduce policy measures in this regard.
Mittal further said the government was also seriously considering the issues raised by the industry regarding censorship.
"We have already received a report by a committee chaired by Shyam Benegal about the working of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The matter is now being considered by the government and soon some of the major concerns that have been expressed would be looked into," he said.
Mittal pointed out that the media and entertainment industry has grown at almost twice the rate of GDP and the sector comprising TV, films, print, radio, animation, video games and other media is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 14.3 per cent by 2020, which is almost double the global rates.
The government is also focusing on creating suitable kids content, he said, adding the measures would include dubbing and subtitling of other language content.
The I&B secretary further said the government will go ahead with more FM radio auctions as it was still an "untapped opportunity."
"Two phases of FM auction have taken place with 164 new channels and as many as 103 cities getting license, and we are going ahead with that because we feel this is one area where the potential has not been tapped yet," the official added.

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First Published: Mar 21 2017 | 6:48 PM IST

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