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Bollywood bigwigs have
demanded that the copyright life of films like
Anmol
Ghadi
(above) be increased to 95 years
(Agencies
Photo)
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NEW DELHI: Did you know that
films like
Mela, Anmol
Ghadi, Neecha Nagar, Shaheed
and many
Hindi classics of 1940s and 1930s have already lost the copyright tenure and are
in public domain. By 2010, evergreen film of the 1950s —
CID
to
Babul
— would also lose their copyright
tag.
Considering that the
copyright life of films, much like written works, is 60 years, Bollywood bigwigs
like Yash Raj Chopra and business chambers like FICCI have demanded that this be
increased, like in the US, to 95 years from the date a film is
made.
They have also demanded
that film producers be given the copyright term since it is they who take the
risk. Otherwise, they fear, once the copyright life ends, commercial entities
will capitalize upon the opportunity once the films fall into public
domain.
With government already
in the process of amending the Copyright Act, the film fraternity has approached
the HRD ministry for a quick
decision.
The argument given by
the film industry is that new platforms like satellite, internet, mobiles, Ipods
have increased the commercial longevity of films and are garnering greater
revenue than traditional cinema halls and new
multiplexes.
The film industry
also wants that descendants of legendary filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mehboob
Khan, V Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt and others — some of
whom have seen hard times — should be able to exploit the timeless works
of their creators in today's
medium.
akshaya.mukul@timesgroup.com