Music companies have lost over Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) in the last three years, according to the Indian Music Industry. Savio D'Souza, general secretary IMI, said the industry is losing Rs 125 crore (Rs 1.25 billion) a year owing to piracy.
D' Souza pointed out that owing to a severe financial crisis, the industry has stopped investing in new artists. A hit cassette, which used to sell at Rs 100-150 in 1995-96, was today being sold at Rs 45-55, while an average film cassette, which used to sell at Rs 25-40, is being sold at Rs 10-15.
D'Souza said, globally, law and enforcement played a very important role in curbing this crime. However, in India the judicial lenience enables even serious offenders to get away with minimum punishment and this is a major hindrance in combating the problem.
"We appeal to the authorities to adopt a stricter view towards offenders and expedite legal proceedings against defaulters," he said.
According to statistics, globally piracy accounted for $4.02 billion in a $47.7 billion industry. In India, the piracy market is around Rs 600-700 crore (Rs 6-7 billion), equal to the size of the legitimate music industry.
Of the 4.9 crore (Rs 49 million) cassettes manufactured and sold every month, 1.6 crore (Rs 16 million) were illegally manufactured and sold by pirates. According to estimates, piracy results in loss of Rs 75-100 crore (Rs 750 million -1 billion) a year to the government exchequer in the form of excise duty and sales tax.
IMI is also seeking an amendment in the law to bring in the optical disc regulation prevalent in places such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, UK and the US.
The regulation entails, monitoring and regulating the establishment and operation of optical disc mastering and replication facilities, stricter licensing controls on the operation of optical media mastering and replication facilities such as a requirement to use identification tools. It also required registration for commercial optical disc duplication.
