MPAA and Bollywood team to tackle piracy

Industry estimates losses at well over $1 billion a year

Follow link to the story on Variety.com for further details…

The Spirited Critic response…

Its hard to react to such news as egregious as an industry like Bollywood and the constituents who comprise it to finally stand up to piracy. For many years this problem has existed, in fact for many years it is more than just common knowledge that producers, production companies have been among the entities who have contributed to piracy in its most aggravated form over the years.

So it begs the question why now? Perhaps the answer lies in the subtitle of the article, all of sudden take money out of the pockets of producers, and studios alike and it becomes a call to arms. This writer would presume that perhaps piracy has even gotten to the point whereby it is actually costing the producers and filmmakers beyond their contribution and involvement with the core problem, meaning that piracy has extended to even beyond the scope of the producers, contributors, studios, production companies alike who many have been part of the problem in the first place.

Then again, we, meaning South Asians, are a demographic known for going on the “cheap” to enjoy content and indulging ourselves for the cheaper piracy alternatives of movies, and filmed content. There are many of you who are reading this who are guilty of this fact, or have relatives who are guilty of this behavior. If any of you have gone to the local “India Sweets and Spices” or related family grocery store to rent the “$1″ movie that is still in the theatrical release virtually the same weekend of the film’s release you know what I mean.

So do we have a “chicken and the egg” scenario? Who is really to blame for piracy? I mean surely the vendors who are soliciting, renting, and selling these illegal DVD copies on the black market and the “mom and pop” market would certainly go out of “business” so to speak if they had no customers or clients. And if their primary clientele are South Asian families like your uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces and this practice is going on two generations, what then? Where does it end? What responsibility nod what measure is being taken to curb this effort?

Perhaps a spiritual solution is for the filmmakers, production company, studios to step forward and actually spend money on the cause. In Hollywood, producers, studios, production companies, film festivals, distributors all band together to fight piracy collectively, especially when they enlist the star talent to assist in getting the message. When piracy starts to eat into the profits of one entity, generally speaking it tends to be an issue that affects them all, hence the tendency of all entities to work together.

So, coming back to Bollywood and the Indian film industry, I find it quite ironic that this article propagates the notion of Bollywood producers, and companies enlisting the help of the MPAA (The Motion Pictures Association of America) to help fight piracy of Bollywood cinema. I suppose that this is a good step in the right direction to curb piracy in the United States America. I just wonder if the battle, because some battles are just would be more worthwhile if there was a totality and alignment of focus and inclusion to get as many people including Bollywood Stars to come forward with a unified front to address the South Asian audiences worldwide.

Perhaps it’s just me.

The Spirited Critic