Awareness key to curb film piracy , say experts

CHENNAI: Strict enforcement of the law, supplying original prints of movies at subsidised rates and changing public perception were some of the ways to deal with piracy, said experts from the film industry who had gathered at the Chennai International Film Festival 2010 (CIFF) to create awareness about anti piracy.
Music composer Devi Sri Prasad said it was important to create awareness among the public and also to produce the kind of work which would make people buy original prints."Most people don't have the time to go to a theatre or go to a shop to a buy an original DVD when it is easily available on the internet," he said.
"In order to combat piracy it is necessary to sell original prints of a movie at subsidised rates soon after its release. If the original DVD is in the market for Rs 30 a week after a movie is released, the public would buy the original print," director K S Ravikumar said.
Suhasini Maniratnam, one of the organisers of the CIFF, said it was important to have a moral code for entertainment as well. "The public must understand the amount of work which goes into making a movie and appreciate it by watching it in a theatre," she said.