Three films were out this Ayudha Pooja and within 12 hours of their release, they were illegaly uploaded online.
Piracy is proing to be a big blow for the Tamil film industry. Though various attempts were made by the Tamil Film Producers Council, nothing can be done to counter piracy.
The situation is running out of hands. Today, the average life span of a movie in a cinema hall is less than a week-end.
Blame it on piracy. Much recently ten theatres that allowed illegaly recording of new-releases were banned by the council.
The piracy players don’t directly make money from the downloads. They make it through the ads they host on the sites – more traffic would mean more clicks. Of the 500 sites that indulge in circulation of pirated content in some form or the other, 150 thrive only on piracy.
Nearly half of the 150 are from the US, followed by 11 from Canada, 9 from Panama and six from Pakistan. That the top 100 sites make Rs 3,500 crore ($510 million) annually shows how serious the problem is.
TFPC chief Vishal blamed the government in an interview, for being inactive in battling piracy issues. They should introduce strict legistaltion to stop this act. The trade bodies in cinema should come together and discuss the issue at the earliest.
The difficulties of the exhibitors and distributors should be analysed. Though people come in large numbers to theatres, a majority still watches them on piracy. Ways and means to bring them to cinema halls should be planned.
The film industry should seek the help of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to keep tabs on the erring sites and block the content when notified by the industry.