India’s First IP Crime Unit Launched in Telangana State

Piracy is one of the major evil Indian IP industry is facing for decades and the same is growing day by day rooting into the system causing irreparable loss to the economic reputation of the country. As per the report by Ernst & Young, Indian films industry has sustained loss of around USD 959 (Rs. 4,411 Crores) million and 5, 71,896 jobs in the year 2008 due to piracy.[1] Further various incidents regarding piracy in the film industry seems to be increasing and recently the incident related to the online leak of movie “UDTA PUNJAB” before two days of its release had made headlines. However Indian Judiciary has taken timely steps to control the piracy by passing John Doe orders wherein identities of the Defendants are not known but the whole site suspected providing the pirated versions is blocked. UDTA PUNJAB is not the only movie which is victim of the piracy, there are numerous movies that falls prey of piracy, some of which are reported while others go unnoticed. Latest incidents of piracy in the Bollywood industry have been in headline every now and then, which palpably is a sheer discouragement to the IPR holder as well as economic system of the country. Even Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce recently claimed that there were 14,000 sites and 89,000 illegal downloads of the movies causing loss in millions of rupees.[2] The issue related to piracy and infringement of IPR in India ultimately impacts its economic reputation which is not at all desirable.

Reportedly, in order deal with the menace of piracy, Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU) is launched as India’s first unit to deal with the Intellectual Property Crime. It is set up under the cyber crime wing of the CID to deal with complaints pertaining to online piracy particularly illegal download and spread of movies. Pertinently, TIPCU being first of its kind of state level unit in India seems to be vigilant step by the state government in setting up a special unit dedicated to tackle with the serious and organized intellectual property crime such as piracy, with prime focus on offences committed using an online platform. Modeled upon UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), TIPCU’s main task will be to monitor online piracy and recommend blocking of websites providing pirated contents, identify the perpetrators and pursue action. Reportedly, TIPCU’s will also prosecute the pirates and choke their revenue sources. The taskforce is expected to start work in the next few months. It will have representatives from cyber crime police, state IT ministry, internet service providers, the Telugu film industry, legal experts and financial experts.[3] Further TIPCU is also expected to deal with the measure to control illegal online activities, including child pornography. Thus it seems that the horizon of the unit is duly kept wide in order to confront all the wrongs being carried out through online platforms with special focus on piracy. It is a commendable step by the Telangana Government which inculcates deterrence among the wrong doers who indulge in such illegal activities of piracy. Thus units like TIPCU are essential to curb the menace of the Piracy and intellectual property infringement in India, which ultimately helps retain confidence among the authors/creators/ owner towards their Intellectual Property rights in India. Now the actual effective working of the unit is expected to speak louder than words and help clear the menace of piracy issue. Further, it is the need of the hour to have such units throughout India, as the piracy is the issue that is also being faced by the Bollywood as that of the Tollywood. Launch of TIPCU has already set a trend across other Indian states to have such units established which would actively help curbing the menace of piracy in India.

About the Author: Mr. Abhijeet Deshmukh, Trade Mark Attorney, Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorneys and can be reached at: [email protected]

[1] http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/piracy-a-serious-threat-to-indian-film-industry/592752/

[2]http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/tipcu-to-tackle-online-piracy/article8771495.ece

[3] https://www.telanganastateofficial.com/tipcu-telangana-intellectual-property-crime-unit-formed/