Premium production houses are now spending hefty amounts to combat piracy and keep a check on revenue loss from illegal copying and distribution of their motion pictures.
Another strong reason to curb piracy is to encourage production houses of Bollywood to ink exclusive contracts with Netflix and Amazon, once a movie finishes its runtime in multiplexes. Cyber Security firms are working with production houses which immediately flag pirated versions of a feature online utilizing the latest technology platforms.
“We have been working with a few cyber-security companies to see if any such content is leaked online, which can then be identified immediately and the issue can be raised with the publisher and copyright owners,” says Manav Sethi, group chief marketing officer, EROS International.
A cybersecurity professional Manan Shah who leverages Artificial Intelligence for anti-piracy services claims that the contract with firms generally has a duration of two weeks.
“The starting price is INR 4 lakh, but if a movie has a superstar as the protagonist, the price shoots up because the risks for these leaks are higher,” said Shah.
‘’If a movie features Alia Bhatt or Ranveer Singh, it is likely to be a hit and the anti-piracy service prices will go up by 20-30 per cent. Top OTT like Netflix or Amazon outsource these services from the US, where the market is more mature,’’ added Shah.
“On the strategic front, the content owners across genres need to come together and fight the menace since every property across genres is at risk. In the movie industry particularly, strategic moves are being taken globally whereas closer home, there is much more to be done,’’ says Abhishek Dhoreliya, founder of Markscan, a company that enables the entertainment industry fight piracy.
.
