A theatre owners’ collective has moved the Madras High Court seeking protection from false accusations of piracy levelled against them by film producers..A plea moved by the Film Exhibitors Association of Trichy and Thanjavur came up before Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana on Monday..The Association prayed that the Court grant them protection from arrests likely to be made on account of unmindful criminal complaints being made against them for movie piracy. It has been contended that on such false FIRs made by film producers, theatre owners are arrested without any further inquiry, application of mind, or prima facie evidence..Watermarks carried by digital copies of movies enable film producers to trace the theatre copy from which a pirated movie is made. Armed with this information, the film producers have taken to filing criminal complaints against the concerned movie theatres..However, the petitioner points out that it is not as if the theatre owners can pirate the movies given to them, particularly since the digital service provider which provides the digital movie copy oversees the exhibition of the film from the projector room..On the other hand, the Association argues that that it is often members of the audience who commit the act of piracy with the help of cameras..“It is with the aid of such cameras that audience seem to be capturing and making copies of the films while they are being exhibited on the screens at the theatres. Such copies seems to be a major contributor to the piracy market.”.It is further pointed out that such illegal activity is difficult for theatre owners to oversee, even though security checks are conducted while allowing the audience entry into the theatre..Therefore, it has been contended that theatre owners cannot be made responsible for all piracy. The petition argues,.“….the theatre owners will never give up their livelihood and involve themselves in such acts of piracy which will in turn only hurt their business..…While the majority of the theatre owners are innocent, the police are taking action against all of them without conducting nay proper investigation of enquiry, only on the basis of FIRs filed by the film producers. .…while the theatre owners wish to extend all their support to and cooperation in bring an end to piracy, they are being made the victims.“.Whereas state counsel contended before the Court that the plea for blanket protection for arrests is not maintainable, Justice Sathyanarayana has suggested that all stakeholders initiate a dialogue to work out a solution among themselves to curb the practice of movie piracy..To this end, the judge has directed the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and the Director General of Police to facilitate a meeting between the stakeholders. The case has been posted to be taken up next on November 28..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
