Rajya Sabha passes Bill to curb film piracy, revamp age-based certification

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill to curb the menace of film piracy, revamp age-based certification given by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as well as uniformity in the categorisation of films and content across platforms. Speaking on the Bill, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said the Bill has been brought to get relief from the loss of Rs 20,000 crore to piracy. “Piracy is like cancer and we are trying to uproot it through this Bill,” Thakur said in support of the Bill, which has provisions to curb transmission of pirated film content on the internet as well as to classify films on the basis of age group, instead of the current practice of ‘U’, ‘A’, and ‘UA’. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed in the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote in the absence of opposition parties who had earlier staged a walkout.