On Thursday, July 27, Rajya Sabha passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which introduces strict anti-piracy provisions to take action against film piracy and aims at simplifying licensing procedures.
As per reports, the Bill proposes a three-year jail term and a fine of up to 5% of a movie’s production cost for those making its pirated copies. It also introduces three certifications under the ‘UA’ category, UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+, which means that children younger than the given age limits can access such movies with parental guidance. The Bill seeks to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952 which authorises CBFC to require cuts in films and clear them for exhibition in cinemas and on television.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur called piracy a “termite”. Thakur also said that the government will not have revisional powers [over the CBFC’s decisions] even after this bill.
As per officials, the act needed to be amended due to several reasons — to harmonise the law with various executive orders, Supreme Court judgements, and other legislations; to improve the procedure for licensing films for public exhibition by the CBFC; and to expand the scope of categorisations for certification.
As the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 says that only UA category films can be shown on TV, the Bill allows for a change of category of a film from A (adult) or S (specialised groups) to UA, after making suitable alterations. For the unversed, the earlier Act provided that the certificate issued by the CBFC is valid for 10 years. It would now be valid perpetually.
The Bill also prohibits the recording of the film or any part that is being exhibited at a cinema theatre using audio-visual devices has been prohibited under the Bill. It is to end the Rs 20,000 crore losses faced by the film industry due to piracy.
Thakur also expressed that government intends to open institutes for animation, visual effects, gaming and comic sectors to provide skilled labour to the fast-growing field.
