Viewers and members will be allowed to upload content on the platform though “a dedicated team that will monitor and moderate the platform to ensure that no copyright content is displayed without the permission of the owner”.

An interim injunction by the Delhi High Court, rise in the number of online watchdogs, newer marketing collaborations, and “an urgent need to be innovative” and “replicate the west” are the new battle-shields for the Indian film industry waking to a new threat of copyright content made available online through streaming websites and portals, which then become available for free download.

While the effects of the Delhi High Court’s interim injunction refraining YouTube LLC from “displaying, disseminating, reproducing, or showing audio-visual content of Super Cassettes uploaded by members on their website” remain to be seen, online experts like Nikhil Pahwa, editor contentSutra, India’s digital news monitor, says he is flooded by calls from the industry reacting to the development. “Super Cassettes’ decision asking for blocking (the uploaded content) is looked as a huge move and should set a precedent. It will now be used by other movie labels who want to stop their property being shown on the streaming website without compensation,” says Pahwa.

After its launch a few years back, YouTube, a streaming site now taken over by Google, has become so popular that everything from home videos to movie clips and audio-video content, including newly released movies, are seen uploaded, viewed and shared by members and fans.

Ashish Patil, General Manager, MTV-Asia and vice-president (creative and content) admits that “uploads by content owners are good as long as there is a proper revenue sharing agreement between the website and the content owner”. Patil is aware that most of MTV’s popular shows can be surfed on YouTube, but like he says, “It then becomes a promotional tool appearing only after it is telecast on the channel.” A month-old Beat Box, a digitised music store started by the music channel with a soft launch is the channel’s experiment in creating a new platform for paid downloads. “In the end, no content owner with legal copyright is wrong when he is asking these websites for a piece of action.”

Barjatya, who is using the ‘instead of playing there, come to my playground’ approach, admits: “Piracy is a reality. Work around it. In fact, content owners need to be creative and more entrepreneurial in the way content is distributed and monetised.” Barjatya explains that travelling in Finland in 2006, he realised that while the marketing of his film reached there, the movie didn’t, which meant the people had to consume it illegally.

The company’s broadband now has made available all its banner movies on its website for free surfing but paid download. The portal started with 75 in-house productions available for free viewing, including titles like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun which has been viewed free online 4,50,832 times.

Today, only 10 per cent of the content on the website is from the Rajshri label, with the rest coming from other providers, including the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Ministry of Tourism, says Barjatya. “I will be happy if others wake up to the threat and replicate the model. We used to send notices too, but then we realised we needed to be progressive and innovative,” he says.

Other companies take help of online watchdogs like investigator Anil Nayer of RISCS (Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security), who spends most of his time helping content owners establish relationships with auction and streaming sites to bring instances of copyright infringement to their notice. The outcome is that websites are very co-operative in pulling down infringers and de-list sellers. Every minute, thousands are uploading clips or just a scratch of their favourite song on the Net to share it with their friends.

Online experts like Nayer offer a solution citing the Telugu industry as a successful role model. “Content owners can exploit the Net by selling their Internet rights to bonafide companies which can exploit this medium on their behalf,” says Nayer.

Nayer explains why Internet piracy is a major problem. “A new release is generally available on the Net on the Friday that it is released or by Saturday evening. We have noticed that on four file sharing servers, at any one point of time, there are at least 100 Hindi movies available for download,” he says.

While online watchdogs like Nayer stress that legal recourse can be taken against individuals and organisations who are uploading their content on to the net, many like Parmesh Shahani, who covers India for MIT’s convergence culture consortium, want to take the debate forward by calling these uploaders ‘evangelist’ essentially conducting free marketing for these companies and who can be converted into marketing mascots if content owners have a vision.

Shahani explains, “This person taking an effort to wait through a slow connection to upload an audio file is not a pirate, but a true fan, who is passionate about the content and wants to share it.” He adds, “The companies which go to file legal suits in courts are just being short-sighted. They need to bridge the relationship with the new customer.”

Says Vijay Lazarus, president of the Indian Music Industry, who has taken many representations to fight piracy, “Most often uploading is a harmless step by a viewer to share some audio-video content on the Internet. It becomes serious when people download the content and copy it into discs and sell it.” Lazarus cites an example of a US housewife who was recently fined for making copyright content available, something India needs to wake up to soon.