Sunday 30 August 2015

Intellectual Property and New Media

'Intellectual Porperty' relates to the ownership of 'intangible' property such as ideas, various forms of literary and artistic expression, broadcasting and the mass media, folklore, and new media (any mode of expression which has commercial value)

The law encompasses four distinct types of intangible property:
1. Patents
2. Copyright
3. Trademarks or Tradenames
4. Others such as industrial designs, trade secrets and confidential information.

The above collectively are referred to as 'intellectual property'. Of these, Copyright directly applies to mass media.

'Copyright' is generally defined as an 'exclusive right granted to the owner of an original work (i.e. lyrics, movies, computer programs, paintings, designs logos) for a limited period of time'.

Copyright offers a legal protection granted to an artist or creative writer to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

Developments in new technologies such as cable and satellite TV as well as the internet have made the protection of 'intellectual property' more complicated.

An area of concern for authors, film makers, music composers, playwrights and other creative artists is the 'broadcasting of their work on a host of delivery platforms: radio, television, internet, mobile phones, etc. The gap between high priced media goods and low price pirated good has resulted in piracy.

Piracy is the illegal or unauthorised reproduction of copyrighted books, recordings, television programmes, softwares, movies etc.

With the dawn of globalization, India saw the entrance of piracy. Earlier piracy was confined to audio cassettes and books sold on the street. today it is in the form of:

1. Media windowing: Duplicating of content in the digital medium enables pirate to disrupt the chances of maximizing profits for distributors. While the cost of reproducing every duplicate decreases, the quality of the content remains constant.

2. Torrents: Bit Torrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used for distributing large amounts of data. These have been controversial since their inception. However, youngsters continue to download free games, software, movies etc via peer-to-peer file sharing / torrents.

Anti Piracy Enforcement: Media companies and anti-piracy groups have been lobbying for change in laws and stricter enforcement of laws. With cheaper technologies for circulation of media, this is a tough struggle.

Business Software Alliance (BSA) has been creating information on software piracy and assisting the police in conducting raids on pirates around India. In Bombay, the Social Services Wing, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) and major producers like Reliance Entertainment, and distributors such as United Television have driven anti-piracy efforts with the film industry.

Apart from enforcement efforts, anti-piracy lobbies have been instrumental in creating literature and annual statistical publication to demonstrate losses caused by piracy. Consultancy firms such as KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young have published piracy estimates.

Piracy is not a problem that can be eradicated overnight. New amendments but more importantly educating the masses will play an important role in making a difference in the future.

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