Indian film producers have withdrawn their proposed January 6 strike against the amendments in the proposed Copyright Amendment Bill 2010 after the Central government assured them that no arbitrary decision would be taken that jeopardizes the interests of the Indian film industry.
The meeting, held in Delhi on Wednesday, was attended by HRD minister Kapil Sibal, I&B minister Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel (Political Adviser to the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi), Film and Television Producers’ Guild of India president Ramesh Sippy, Vice-president Mukesh Bhatt and Film Federation of India (FFI) president T.P. Agarwal.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday, Mukesh Bhatt said the film production, distribution and exhibition sectors were heartened by the government’s ‘positive approach’ that had paved the way for fair negotiations to take place. ‘The token strike call was not a threat, but to express the industry’s desperation at the step-motherly treatment meted out by the government,’ he added.
Lyricists and composers are already given royalty, but it is impossible to give them music rights, Agarwal said. ‘Producers are not against sharing royalty but they cannot make anyone partners in their property,’ he added.
Sippy said producers were kept in the dark over the proposed copyright amendments. ‘Without asking us, the government went ahead with the proposed draft. A fair working is necessary to ensure producers’ interests are safeguarded. We have to co-exist. We do not want to fight with our own people,’ he said.