I&B secretary promises stringent IPR regime

Information & Broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal today said the government is 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 looks to monetise content. We continue to push towards ensuring that IP laws are implemented and guard the industry against piracy," Mittal said at the Ficci Frames here.

He said the ministry is in talks with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the implementation of a new national IPR policy and will be constituting of a copyright board to introduce policy measures for this.
 

Mittal further said the government is 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 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 of 14.3 per cent by 2020, which is almost double the global rates.

The government is also focusing on creating suitable kids content, Mittal said, adding the measures would include dubbing and subtitling of other language content.

The secretary further said that the government will go ahead with more FM radio auctions as it is still an untapped opportunity.

"Two phases of FM auction have taken place with 164 new channels and as many as 103 cities have got license and we are going ahead with that because we feel this is one area where the potential still hasn't been tapped," he added.