Entertainment industry loses $4 billion (Rs 160 billion) in annual revenues due to piracy, a study said.In a report titled 'The effects of counterfeiting and piracy on India's entertainment', the US-India Business Council (USIBC) said that the piracy is also eating away the sector 820,000 jobs.
"This is the reason why while Bollywood makes more feature films than any film industry on earth its revenues are only two per cent that of Hollywood's. This is also why India is only a marginal market for Hollywood. The story is much the same for music, television, music and electronic games," said USIBC president Ron Somers.
It is estimated that Indian film industry loses $959 million , the television sector $2.6 billion a year and the gaming segment, piracy eats away $40 million of annual revenues while music loses $325 million.Most of the films are pirated due to under declaration by the local cable operators (LCOs) where the average price paid by subscribers is Rs 180. The cable operators also air pirated films.
USIBC, in conjunction with Ficci, commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct the study.Dr Amit Mitra (Ficci secretary general) said: "This study shows that the best way to make a boom in the Indian entertainment bigger is to stop the affliction of piracy. For the average Indian who wants to increase his or her chances for being employed in Bollywood and associated industries, fighting piracy is a place where all our collective efforts must start."
Accordin to Filmmaker Yash Chopra piracy issue started as early as 1979.And if we listen to filmmaker Ramesh Sippy: " Without government's help, we can't stop piracy. When we released Sholay, there was no piracy as its one of the greatest films. The government should control piracy and curb it to the maximum.
Entertainment industry loses $4 billion (Rs 160 billion) in annual revenues due to piracy, a study said.In a report titled 
