I&B Ministry appoints nodal officers to curb piracy on digital platforms

New Delhi: The Union government on Friday appointed nodal officers who have been empowered to receive complaints and issue directions to take down pirated content on digital platforms.

The decision to appoint nodal officers is a major step to curb film piracy. The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has provided an institutional mechanism to take action against film piracy which causes an estimated loss of up to Rs 20,000 crore every year to the film industry.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that a big demand of the industry has been fulfilled. Thakur stated that the government has appointed 12 nodal officers in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) with whom complaints related to film piracy can be lodged and action will be taken within 48 hours.

“Piracy is a big menace not only for the film industry but for the entire world. Now, action against it is just a complaint away,” Thakur said.

After the Parliament passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 1952 during this year’s Monsoon Session, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting established an institutional mechanism of nodal officers to receive complaints against piracy and direct the intermediaries to take down pirated content on digital platforms.

“The above move would allow instant action by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in case of piracy and will provide relief to the industry,” Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said.

These officers have been appointed in the Ministry of I&B and offices of CBFC headquarters in Mumbai and its regional offices in major film production centres.
Chandra noted that an original copyright holder or any person authorised by them for this purpose can apply to the nodal officer to take down pirated content.

If a complaint is raised by a person who does not hold the copyright or is not authorised by the copyright holder, the nodal officer can hold hearings on a case-to-case basis to decide the genuineness of the complaint before issuing the directions.