Hollywood and Bollywood Unite to Protect Content from AI in India

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Major film industry groups are lobbying an Indian government panel for stricter copyright protection against AI firms using their intellectual property without permission. The move highlights growing concerns over AI's impact on creative industries.

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Film Industry Giants Unite Against AI Copyright Concerns

Hollywood and Bollywood, two of the world's largest film industries, are joining forces to address a growing concern in the digital age: the use of copyrighted content by artificial intelligence (AI) firms. Major industry groups are lobbying an Indian government panel to implement stricter copyright protection measures, aiming to prevent AI companies from using their intellectual property to train AI models without permission

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The Copyright Conundrum in the AI Era

The film industry's primary concern is that AI tools could potentially scrape copyrighted videos, images, and clips from online sources, including trailers and promotional materials. More alarmingly, there are fears that these AI systems might ingest pirated content onto their platforms

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. This issue has gained prominence as India's current copyright law does not account for AI usage, prompting the government to form a panel of lawyers, officials, and industry executives to review and potentially revise existing legislation

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Industry Stance and Lobbying Efforts

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing major studios like Warner Bros, Paramount, and Netflix, along with the Producers Guild of India, are advocating for a licensing regime rather than altering existing copyright laws. In a letter to the panel, MPA India Managing Director Uday Singh warned that allowing blanket training exceptions for AI could "undermine the incentive to create new works and erode copyright protection in India"

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Global Context and Contrasting Approaches

This debate is not unique to India. Globally, AI companies and content owners are at odds, with governments scrambling to develop regulations. Japan, for instance, provides broad exemptions to AI firms for using copyrighted content, while the European Union has implemented stricter rules allowing content owners to opt out of such use

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Economic Implications and Industry Concerns

India's film, TV, and online content industry is a significant economic driver, generating $13.1 billion in revenues last year and growing at an impressive 18% annually since 2019

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. The MPA argues that allowing AI models to use content with an opt-out system would place an undue burden on movie studios, potentially hindering future investments and the development of high-quality local content

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Recent Developments and Legal Challenges

The urgency of this issue is underscored by recent events. A Bollywood couple has taken legal action against YouTube's AI policies after manipulated videos of them began circulating online. In a similar vein, Warner Bros. recently sued AI service Midjourney in Los Angeles, alleging theft of their intellectual property to generate images and videos of iconic characters like Batman and Superman

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As the Indian panel finalizes its recommendations, the outcome of this debate could have far-reaching implications for the future of content creation, AI innovation, and copyright protection in one of the world's largest entertainment markets.

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