Piracy surge sparks call for intermediaries to take onus: IGAP Study
Report estimates that nearly 90 million users accessed pirated video content in 2024, leading to revenue losses of $1.2 billion—nearly 10% of the legitimate video industry.
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A new report from the Indian Governance and Policy Project (IGAP) warns that digital piracy in India is outpacing legal deterrents, and calls for a paradigm shift in how intermediaries—like social media platforms, OTT, broadcasters, and internet service providers—engage with anti-piracy efforts.
Titled “Why Piracy Keeps Winning Despite India’s Legal Framework,” the report critiques the existing enforcement regime as being overly reactive and litigation-heavy, stating that rights holders are trapped in a costly and unsustainable game of catch-up. It estimates that nearly 90 million users accessed pirated video content in 2024, leading to revenue losses of $1.2 billion—nearly 10% of the legitimate video industry. This number could swell to 158 million users and $2.4 billion in losses by 2029 if no major interventions are made.
Intermediaries Must Take Greater Responsibility
Among the report’s core recommendations is a push for intermediaries to move from a passive, compliance-driven approach to a more proactive, collaborative model.
"Anti-piracy cannot rely solely on government action," the report states. It recommends the formation of industry coalitions and joint task forces involving social media apps, OTT platforms, digital intermediaries, and broadcasters. These task forces would be tasked with threat intelligence sharing, coordinated reporting systems, and flagging of repeat offenders.
Moreover, the report calls for the use of advanced technologies like watermarking, content fingerprinting, and metadata scanning to identify and block pirated content at its source—before it spreads across platforms. This would represent a shift from post-infringement takedowns to early-stage detection and prevention.
Despite various legal provisions, including dynamic and superlative injunctions, the report highlights a fractured enforcement ecosystem. Currently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and Department of Telecommunications (DoT) all play separate roles in piracy-related regulation.
This disjointed response leads to delays and inefficiencies. To fix this, the report calls for an inter-ministerial mechanism to coordinate enforcement efforts and standardize action across states and platforms.
Though the Copyright Act includes criminal penalties for infringement and unauthorized distribution, their enforcement remains weak. State-level copyright cells and cybercrime units exist but vary in effectiveness, often depending on political will and resource availability.
While India’s legal and judicial frameworks offer important tools against piracy—including dynamic injunctions, safe harbour restrictions, and criminal penalties—they are largely post-facto remedies. The IGAP report suggests that real progress will only come when intermediaries step up as active participants in anti-piracy enforcement, working closely with government agencies and each other to stop piracy before it happens.
