The year 2015 witnessed the Indian film industry becoming vigilant about preventing the piracy of their movies. This vigilance in Bollywood led to a couple of John Doe orders passed against the copyright infringers. It seems that this trend of obtaining John Doe orders is here to stay in 2016 as well as the Delhi High Court recently passed the order against potential copyright infringers in a civil suit filed by Balaji Motion Pictures Limited. The film producers were under the apprehension that their forthcoming release 'Kya Kool Hai Hum 3' would be made available online by various miscreants despite the work being protected under the Copyright Act, 1957. The film producers impleaded the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as a defendant in the suit due to the fact that various cable operators are governed by TRAI and it is because of lack of implementation of the existing provisions of the Copyright laws by the Government Authority that such infringements are continuously committed.
The Delhi High Court passed the order restraining around 300 entities from making available to the public, the movie 'Kya Kool Hai Hum 3' unless a prior authorization was obtained from the movie producers. Interestingly, the High Court has instructed the Government Authorities to ensure 'compliance of the order.' The concept of copyright owners themselves seeking remedies through courts to prevent infringement in itself shows that there is a major lack of will to implement copyright laws and it is time that this concern is addressed by the Indian Government. More so, the film industry as a whole suffers significant losses because of rampant piracy. It has become imminent for Government Authorities to: 1) introduce initiatives to create IP awareness across the country; and 2) Ensure strict enforcement of the existing laws to deter individuals from committing such infringing acts. Such a move will not only advance the interest of IP owners but also benefit the government's ongoing 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' initiatives.
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