New Delhi: The media and entertainment industry is losing substantial revenue due to film, video, music and online piracy, Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar has informed the Parliament. To curb this threat, the government is planning to introduce Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021 soon.

Citing an industry report released by Ireto, which is a global solutions provider in digital platform security and media and entertainment, the minister said the Indian media and entertainment industry loses around Rs 2,100 crore of its annual revenue due to piracy. However, no definite data is available in this regard year-wise, he added.

The government had introduced the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha in February, 2019 to impose strict penalties against unauthorised duplication of films in cinema halls. The draft Bill prohibited a person from using a recording device to make a copy of a film, without authorisation and made it punishable crime with an imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, or both.

Later, the standing committee on information technology (2019-20) presented its report on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on 16 March 2020.

Javadekar told the Parliament that the recommendations and observations contained in the report of the standing committee on IT have been examined for making necessary amendments to clauses in the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and for the subsequent introduction of the Cinematograph (Amendment), Bill, 2021.

He was responding to a query regarding the increasing loss in revenue faced by the media industry due to piracy.