Jun 13, 2011
With the technology available these days it is becoming tough to escape the consequences of piracy. Production houses have a variety of techniques that help them verify the origin of a particular pirated film. This undoubtedly helped leading Telugu production house Geeta Arts, who sued PVR Cinemas, Gurgaon for Rs 5 crore, claiming that pirated DVDs found by them recently had been copied from the master copy given to PVR Ambience Mall, Gurgaon.
Based on this evidence, the producers of 100% Love, starring Naga Chaitanya and Tamannah, have claimed damages from PVR Cinemas for failing to protect their intellectual property, abetting piracy by allowing the master copy to be copied at their facility. They say that soon after the release of 100% Love on May 6 across AP and parts of North India, pirated DVDs and VCDs flooded the market. The watermarks found on the pirated copies of 100% Love showed it had been recorded from a master copy at Screen-6, PVR Ambience Mall.
The company says that theatre managements must take all precautions to stop video piracy as the resultant loss and damages are huge, adding that respective theatres will be held responsible for any illegal recordings carried out on their premises. However, PVR Cinema deny having any contact with Geeta Arts and based on reports on the Internet, their legal team has started investigations. Deepa Menon, Corporate Communications Manager for PVR Cinema says, “We haven’t got any official statement from Geeta Arts regarding any claims. But we started our investigations after we saw the news on the Internet. We at PVR have our own campaign to avoid piracy. We are checking on the date and movie details.”
DC
