News

Piracy costs CD, DVD makers 5 Billion annually

Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 23:00 Hrs | 10 Comments

Piracy costs CD, DVD makers Rs.5 Billion annually

New Delhi: Increasing sales of pirated CDs, DVDs and other software has led to manufacturers in the national capital losing around

5 billion annually, said a report by an industry lobby released Wednesday.

According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), pirated sales of these products is also leading to an annual revenue collection loss of about

1.5 billion (

150 crore) for the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

It estimated that the Indian entertainment industry loses over

160 billion (

16,000 crore) annually because of counterfeiting and piracy.

"Genuine manufacturers in the entertainment segment such as T-Series, Music Today, HMV, Saregama, MG Traders, Morgan, Gnomon Astrotech have brought to the notice of Assocham about increasing piracy on their products which have already caused them a market share loss of over 30 percent in the last five years," Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in a statement.

The chamber said piracy could hurt the revenue generation of original manufacturers in Delhi and its neighbouring region to the extent of over

15 billion in the next five-seven years as the purchasers of pirated products, between in the age group of 18-25 years, was growing at a significant pace.
Source: IANS

Don't Miss ( 1-5 of 25 )

7 Real Reasons Why Facebook Is Head...

Craziest Facts about Facebook that ...

Meet the 3 Indian Innovators Who Ha...

Facebook Most Valued US Firm at Deb...

10 Fastest Growing Tech Companies

Write your comment now

Reader's comments(10)

1: Hi,
When you take an initiative to bring this issue to the notice of Assocam, my only question is what is the outcome of it? Where are we heading towards / the plan of action?
Let us see the other side of the coin. This is not just a competition between T Series or HMV or Saregama or morgan etc etc. This is a competition between Original Producers Lobby and the Pirated Lobby. If you notice carefully there is a carton / code of conduct amongst the pirated world. But the original producers are fighting for a market share, without even noticing the fact that major chunk of the share is been gulped by the pirated lobby and this figure is increasing every year.
There is always a WHY to this reason. Being in this system you canâ€™t eradicate piracy, but with certain actions you can surely reduce it to a major extent. You need to address the factor for increasing piracy. If it is cost, then you need to reduce the cost n keep a marginal profit rather than zero â€œ0â€ profit. There are several other means and ways to overcome this major issue. How to implement it is a matter of concern.

Posted by:Rohan - 18 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

2: I guess in reality you may not be able to eliminate piracy completely. But as others have suggested, the pricing needs to be certainly attractive for buyers to invest in original rather than a pirated ones. We all know the cost of DVD and if you are trying to make a killing profile, piracy is bound to grow. Rather provide at affordable prices, say under Rs.50 per DVD and you will see your volumes multiply as many number of times, which will take care of your top and bottom lines over time. Please do think about this option!

Posted by:Shyam - 18 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

3: Mr. Vijay, your comment : The person from whom I rent CD and DVD's often offer me pirated one's. Is there nobody to stop these guys?

& you want piracy to be stopped..huh..

what are you upto?

Posted by:sreenivas - 18 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

4: In continuation to my earlier comment posted, the loss to the orignal CD/DVD manufacturer is because of point of time of release of product. In other words , the release of product is after 3 to 6 months after movie is off the screen. At the time of release of DVD/CD, mass of the audience has already watched the movie and balance might have watched thru pirated or would have waited for the telecast on TV channels, which , nowadays is quickly available. Therefore, manufacturers has to revisit on their market prices. Lower the prices, mass purchasing will take place, eliminating the piracy to lot of extent. Now, manufacturers are showing their concern in isolation and and understanding the need of customer in mass.

Posted by:Rajiv Ghanekar - 18 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

5: I think, Government should take serious initiatives to stop these manufacturers from becoming a big problem one day. If this continues for some years, these piracy spreading people will become producers for movies.. If we can stop Dance Bars from working, if we can stop Cigerrate smoking on Big Screen & in Public.. why cant we stop these people who are creating big loss for someone who is making movies after lot of investment. I think, problem should be solved till it is controllable.

Posted by:Aashish Deode - 17 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

6: The issue of piracy is genuine. However, the price of original DVDs/CDs is in the range of Rs200-Rs500(for Hindi)and Rs500-Rs700(English). So the higher middle class and middle class segment cannot afford to purchase. So to reduce the piracy, the main stream manufacturers have to come forward by cutting the prices of original DVDs/CDS as I understand their margin is with respect to Royalty/Banner and rights and not manufacturing cost. On the contrary Mosar baer, T series (sometimes)provide at reasonable price of Rs 50. Moreover, if Iam correct, the exorbitantly paid actors cost is indirectly being also one of the factor for high priced DVDs/CDs, particularly for high rated banners. Another obvious reason for the piracy is the low cost pirated CDs/DVDs.

Posted by:Rajiv Ghanekar - 17 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

7: Why will piracy not bloom? People see it happening everyday and keep their eyes closed. You can find a guy with a whole bunch of pirated CD's and DVD's at most places like M.G.Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road in Bangalore. I see them all the time. The person from whom I rent CD and DVD's often offer me pirated one's. Is there nobody to stop these guys? I say stop these guys and see gradually this will kill the piracy market.

Posted by:Vijay Kumar Goyal - 17 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

8: Why don't the companies bring the prices down after a certain time for the same CD/DVD so that people purchase original in the same or near price of an pirated media. When one can get 5/6 movies in a single DVD in INR 30.00 then why will he invest INR 200.00 or above for a single movie in a VCD? Cut some profits & earn through mass sale.

Posted by:Tanmay Agarwal - 17 Dec, 2008

Report abuse

aus, solve solve tau dito