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DATE BOOK
IMPORTANT DATES & EVENTS
Beginning of the Year
The year began on a somewhat somber
note for MPA. A raid attempt at the
factory of the notorious Mahendra Bathla (Lara Cassettes) in Kundli, Haryana
resulted in arrest of the raiding party. Haryana Police indeed played an
important role in protecting one of the biggest pirate factories in the
country. There was however pride in the fact that MPA was the first to attempt
a raid on these premises and in fact had successfully entered the factory and
found pirate product consisting of films, music and computer software. It was only a matter of time before it was
established that the law is above everybody. With the kind intervention of
Member of Parliament Mrs. Shabana Azmi, as well as Mrs. Smita Thackeray,
President IMPPA, the matter was taken up at the highest 
quarters. The case was taken up by the Hon’ble Home
Minister Shri L.K. Advani and a detailed investigation ordered. It is believed that the Chief Minister of
Haryana was personally spoken to by the Hon’ble Home Minister. According to
reliable information Mr. Bathla has substantially reduced his pirate
activities. Before MPA’s raid attempt Mr. Bathla did not have a legitimate
business. Today he is buying licenses from film as well as music producers and
is attempting to become legit.
January 19, 2001
Mr. Sandeep Bedi was invited to speak on Piracy and Enforcement
related issues at a Conference on Copyrights and Entertainment Industry hosted
by IIPS (Institute of Intellectual Property Studies) and APAA (Asian Patent
Attorneys Association) at Mumbai.
MPA was invited at a conference hosted by CII and its President Mr. Sanjeev Goenka in Mumbai. Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, Mr. Yash Chopra and Mrs. Lata Mangeshkar were felicitated at this seminar. Shri Chander M. Lall, Legal Counsel (MPA) was invited as a speaker at the seminar.
March 2, 2002
Mr. Chander M. Lall spoke on behalf
of MPA at a seminar organized by the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi on
Copyrights in the Film Industry – the Law and its Enforcement.
MPA and the
Indian Motion Pictures and Producers’ Association (IMPPA) jointly hosted an
anti-piracy conference at FICCI Federation House, New Delhi. Smt. Smita Thackery President IMPPA and
Shri Chander M. Lall, Legal Counsel (MPA) were the co-hosts of the conference.
The conference was well attended by
personalities from a wide spectrum. The main speakers on the podium included
the hosts as well as Mr. R.S.Lodha, President, FICCI
Mr. Mark Day, Regional Legal Counsel,
MPA, Mr. Blaise Fernandes, Managing Director, Warner Bros (F.E.) Inc., Mrs.
Bela Bannerji, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Mr.
U.N.Katna, Jt. Commissioner of Police (Crime), Delhi Police, Mr. Jawahar Goel,
Addl. Vice Chairman, Essel Group of Industries and Mr. Dhiraj Lal Shah,
Director, Indian Media Protection Against Copyright Theft Ltd. (IMPACT), and
last but not the least, Mrs. Shabana Azmi, MP, Rajya Sabha.
Amongst the other
participants and attendees were Mr. B.L.Gautam, Zee Network, Mr. Vivek Nanda,
Hathaway Cable & Datacom P. Ltd., Mr. Rajiv Vyas, President, In Cable Net and
Mrs. Roop Sharma, Cable Operator’s Federation of India, Gowardhan Tanwani,
Renowned Film Producer.
A delegation comprising MPA and IMPPA representatives presented a memorandum on film piracy to Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister of Information & Broadcasting. The delegation comprised M/s Mark Day, Blaise Fernandes, Chander Lall, Sandeep Bedi and Anil Malhotra representing MPA and Mrs. Smita Thackeray and Mrs. Sushma Shiromanee representing IMPPA.
MPA prominently participated at the FICCI Frames 2002 conference held in Mumbai. The inaugural session had speakers including Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra as well as Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, I&B Minister. Mr. Michael C. Ellis, Vice President & Director, Asia Pacific Anti Piracy, MPA was invited as a speaker in the session entitled IPR Protection – Fighting Copyright Theft. Mr. Michael Connors, Sr. VP (Asia Pacific), MPAA was invited as a speaker for the Valedictory Session along with Mr. L.K.Advani, Union Minister for Home Affairs and Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal, Dy. CM, Maharashtra. .
March 16, 2002
Successful raid conducted on Unitedstar Cable Network (UCN),
Mumbai, which is a franchisee of Hathaway Cable and Datacom Pvt. Ltd. and a
Multi Service Operator (MSO) having a subscriber base of 10,000 households.
April 3, 2002
Successful raid conducted on Blue Star Cable Network, Delhi,
which is one of the biggest cable networks operating in West Delhi with a
subscriber base of more than 10,000 households. The entire unit was seized as a
result of the raid.
Successful raid carried out on New
Friends Cable Network, New Delhi with a subscriber base of more than 6,000
households in South Delhi.
The Friends Colony area of Delhi was one of the few areas where MPA member company films were shown on cable. In order to gain maximum benefits from the raid Anti-Piracy pamphlets were distributed soliciting support of subscribers in reporting piracy on the Anti Piracy Toll Free Line. It was such efforts, which subsequently led to a raid on the notorious Vikki Choudhary operating in this locality.
April 10, 2002
MPA was invited to participate in the training seminar in Bangalore organized by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for Bangalore City Police. Ms. Vanessa Hutley, Mr. Tarun Sawney and Mr. Sai Krishna of BSA spoke about copyright infringement and related issues with regard to the software industry. MPA was represented by Mr. Chander M Lall and Mr. Sandeep Bedi. More than 35 Senior police personnel of the Bangalore city police participated in the workshop. As a result of this workshop Bangalore police has started conducting suo-motu criminal raids against pirates for both software and film piracy. All officers were presented with the MPA Anti-Piracy enforcement manual for future reference and use.
April 18, 2002
Successful raid carried out at Sarvodya Cassette Library,
Mumbai, one of the biggest retail and rental outlets in Mumbai
April 22, 2002
A Police training
seminar was conducted by MPA in New Delhi. Mr. Richard ‘O’ Niell, specially
flew in from Hong Kong to impart training about the Optical Disc Piracy to the
Delhi Police. The seminar was well attended by over 100 policemen. The most
significant achievement has been in persuading the police to conduct ex officio
or suo motu actions.
Mr. Qamar Ahmed, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) asked
the police officers to conduct suo moto actions. As a result, July 2002 onwards
all the raids conducted by Delhi Police based on the information of the MPA
investigators have been conducted on an ex offico basis. MPA member company pirate product is now
seized by the police without a formal complaint from MPA. Seizure of MPA member company pirate product
is made even at raids conducted by other organizations. This is perhaps the biggest public
relations victory for the program. BSA and IMI were also the invitees to this
Seminar.
April 23, 2002
Raid carried out at Lazer World, Mumbai, one of the biggest
rental stores for DVDs as a result of repeated raids this library one of the
Andheri and notorious for piracy closed shop.
May 23, 2002
A successful criminal raid conducted against the network
operated by notorious Vikki Chaudhary (Home Cable) in New Delhi. The entire cable equipment was seized,
including the VCD player, Colour T.V., Modulator. During the search 354 pirated VCDs of other titles were also
recovered. Mr. Vikki Choudhary Director
of the network was arrested and was in jail for almost 10 days, and his bail
was successfully opposed by MPA lawyers thrice.
June 18, 2002
Mr. Chander M. Lall attended the Core Group meeting on Amendments to Copyright Act, 1957 in New Delhi. Several suggestions were made on film piracy issues.
June 29, 2002
Raid carried out at Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom Pvt.
Ltd. in Chembur Mumbai, an MSO with a subscriber base of over 25,000
households. Director of the network was arrested and was in jail for almost 1
week, and his bail was successfully opposed by MPA lawyers.
A delegation comprising Mrs. Shabana Azmi, MP Rajya Sabha, Mrs. Smita Thackeray, President Indian Motion Pictures and Producers’ Association (IMPPA) and Mr. Chander M. Lall, All-India Counsel for the MPA met Shri L.K.Advani in his North Block office, New Delhi. The delegation submitted a memorandum signed by almost 200 well-known film personalities which included a Minister Mr. Shatrughan Sinha, Member of Parliament Mr. Sunil Dutt, well known actors including Mr. Shahrukh Khan and Mr. Aamir Khan, Mrs. Waheeda Rehman, Ms. Raveena Tandon, Ms. Juhi Chawla, Mr. Anil Kapoor and Mr. Anupam Kher, renowned producers and directors including Mr. Yash Johar, Mr. Yash Chopra, Mr. Shyam Benegal, Mr. Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mr. Farhan Akhtar and other well-known personalities like Mr. Amit Khanna.
Mrs. Mira Nair also addressed a
personal letter to the Hon’ble Home Minister in support of the memorandum,
which concerned optical disc piracy and its unregulated manufacture and
distribution in two states in particular.
The visit attracted substantial publicity with coverage in almost all major television news channels as well as a front-page coverage in the Times of India as well as the Hindu.
July 21, 2002
Raid carried out at 7 Star Satellite network at Mumbai, a MSO with a subscriber base of more than 25,000 households. All the equipment was seized and the Director of the network was arrested and was in jail for almost 6 days, and his bail was successfully opposed by MPA lawyers twice.
July 28, 2002
Raid carried out at INCABLE in
the Khar area at Mumbai, a MSO, with a subscriber base of over 25,000
households..
September 6, 2002
Raid carried out Bajaj Cable TV cable Network in the Wazirpur area at New Delhi, with a subscriber base of over 20,000 households. The owner of the network was arrested and remained in jail for 2 months.
September 9, 2002
In September Mr. Chander M. Lall addressed a gathering of Nodal Officers from all over India was invited as a Speaker in a seminar organised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, which is the Ministry incharge of the Copyright laws. Once again the need for suo motu actions in other parts of the country was strongly stressed.
October 8, 2002
Successful raid conducted on the notorious Vinod Suneja
in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi resulting in
a seizure of 4,100 VCD’s, 14,800 inlay cards, 23 CD writers, 5 CD ROMs and 3
computer assemblies. The police arrested Mr. Rahul Verma alias Monty. The unit manufactured 1200 VCD’s
approximately in one day. The bulk of these CD’s were supplied to the Palika
Bazar outlets.
16 October 2002
Successful raid was conducted Read Sure Library, Mumbai. The owner Mr. Kantilal Dhamji Gada was arrested and remanded to police custody till October 25, 2002. MPA lawyer successful opposed his bail application thrice.
A
successful raid was conducted on Rohit Vision Head End of Incable Network in
Mumbai. The owner Boney Francis Travasso the operator and Ravi Durgaprasad
Aggrawal the Owner of the shop were arrested during the raid. The accused were
lodged in jail for six days. The police seized all equipment used in feeding
the pirate signal into the network.
One of the biggest raids ever in Palika Bazar, New Delhi was conducted resulting in seizure of over 10,000 VCDs from 4 shops in the market. Over 25 police personnel conducted this raid operation including 2 ACPs, 5 Inspectors and 3 Sub-Inspectors.
4 arrests were made and the accused were remanded to 2 days police custody. One of the arrested person is the owner of Shop No. 13 Harish Nagpal, son of the notorious pirate Vinod Nagpal. The other shops were Shop No. M-8, M-9 and M-12. Harbhajan Singh who owns the CD unit in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan owns Shop No. M-12 and is one of the accused in the case.
The bail applications of the accused were successfully opposed and the accused were only released on bail after furnishing Bail Bonds with very high Surety amount. As a result Palika Bazar remained shut out of fear for one whole week and the pirates were low on business till Diwali the November 04, 2002.
This raid was followed by civil actions being initiated against the shops and successful injunction orders being passed by the Delhi High Court.
October 24, 2002
Restraining orders passed by the Delhi High Court against the notorious Home Cable Network owned by Mr. Vikki Choudhary, the President of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. The Delhi High Court also issued notices to the Union of India through its two Ministries i.e. the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Ministry of Communications. The MPA member companies have sought cancellation of appropriate licenses granted by these two Ministries which are necessary to run a cable network.
October 28, 2002
The Delhi High Court in a civil action initiated against a video library passes an order restraining the video library against unauthorized rental or sale of MPA member company films.
November 6 2002
The prestigious DLF Gymkhana Gurgaon Club was raided for screening pirated movies. The premises of the prestigious DLF Gymkhana Club were raided, which houses the said cable network. The club was running a cable TV network by the name “DLF Services Ltd. Cable TV Network, with a subscriber base of more than 50,000 households.
The cable network was exhibiting “The Guru” when the raid was conducted. The police also seized 159 pirated prints of MPA titles, to name a few, XXX, Enough, Wind Talkers, Deuces Wild etc. The cable network covers 75% of Gurgaon.
November 21, 2002
The first ever raid on the cable TV network regulation Act was conducted. On a complaint made by the MPA International, Mr. Chetan Ram Sub Divisional Magistrate, New Delhi conducted simultaneous raids on two cable networks, Bindra Communications at Gole Market and R.M Video network at Udyan Marg.
In addition to exhibiting pirate movies these operators were also found violating the Provision of Delhi Entertainment and Betting Tax Act, 1996, and had not paid the necessary entertainment tax dues. R.M Cable network was not even registered as a cable operator.
Authorized officers have been appointed to enforce the provision of the said Act. These included the District Magistrate and the Sub. Divisional Magistrate and the Commissioner of police as also the Entertainment Tax Commissioner and the Assistant Entertainment Tax Commissioner.
The SDM had sealed the entire equipment used for the broadcast and cable networks were completely shut down and the premises housing the cable networks were also sealed. The cable networks were only allowed to commence operations after almost 10 days with an undertaking from the owners to the effect that the said cable networks shall not violate / infringe the copyrights of any copyright holder.
This was
first ever enforcement action under the Cable T.V. Networks Regulation Act.
22 November 2002
Three more cable raids were conducted under the Cable Act by the SDM Connaught Place at Sky Cable Network, Balaji Cable Network and Video Tec Network. The SDM had sealed the entire equipment used for the broadcast and the entire network was completely shut down and the premises housing the cable networks were also sealed. The network were only allowed to function after almost 10 days with an undertaking from the owners to the effect that the said cable networks shall not violate/ infringe the copyrights of any Copyright holder.
November 26, 2002
Civil action initiated against shops in the notorious Palika Bazar Market. For the first time the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the lessors of the Palika Bazar shops, was made a party seeking directions for cancellation of the lease of the errant shopkeepers.
The Delhi High Court appointed a court commissioner to
conduct discreet investigations of the market and report
conduct a raid and seizure operation any time within 3 months in the market
The court also issued notice to the NDMC
In another matter the Delhi High Court restrained the notorious Read Sure Video Library in Mumbai from renting or selling copies of MPA member company titles without appropriate authorization.
December 30, 2002
Four more civil actions initiated in the Delhi High Court, two against major cable networks on which a criminal raid was conducted in the recent past and which had restarted the pirated telecasts, one against a video parlour in Mumbai, and the Last one against a Video Library in Mumbai stocking mostly pirated product. In each case the court granted an injunction in favour of MPA. This is the very first civil proceeding against a video parlour.
Statistics | Summary | Southern India