Motion Picture Association (MPA) in Mumbai to promote and protect Intellectual Property Rights, will strive to bring Bollywood & Hollywood together…
There’s no doubt that the Indian film & TV industry is poised for an exponential growth, however, at the same time piracy is also a big concern which results in major revenue loss. That is why the Motion Picture Association (MPA) opened an office in Mumbai so that it could adequately represent the US film, video and TV industry in India, promote and protect intellectual property rights, and also help Bollywood and Hollywood to work better together.
Major Hollywood studios already in India
Hollywood has been investing in Indian films for some time now, and most studios were looking for ways to increase their footprints in India. Most major US studios are now involved in the Indian film and television industries, either by investing in, or forming joint ventures with, local entertainment conglomerates or by producing and co-producing local-language movies.
So setting up an office in Mumbai, where Bollywood is based, was the right thing for MPA to do.
Intellectual Property Rights & Piracy
Their top most priority is to create awareness on the subject of piracy, and also take concrete steps to reduce piracy. One of their tasks would be to investigate cases of piracy and to assist law enforcement officials in conducting raids. Some of the activities that they would watch out for are Bootlegging movies, illegal copying of movies and Internet piracy.
For a very long time, Indian filmmakers have been accused of stealing Hollywood stories and re-making them for the Indian audience. Its only in recent times that Indian filmmakers have started taking the requisite permissions before making remakes of Hollywood films. The Mumbai office of MPA will strive to ensure more and more filmmakers take that route.
Taxation & Market Access
Besides safeguarding intellectual property rights, the other thing that this association wants to tackle is taxation. Entertainment taxes in India are considered to be among the highest in the world. MPA is also keen to work with various local government agencies to reduce restrictions related to market access, for movies that have significant American investments.
The Indian arm of Motion Picture Association is known as the Motion Picture Dist. Association (India) Pvt. Ltd and is setup in Mumbai. The Mumbai office will serve as the voice of the American motion picture, home video and television industries in India.
