Jail up to 3 years, heavy fines for piracy: All about Cinematograph Amendment Bill

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, July 27. The Bill aims to address movie piracy and improve the procedure for certification of films. The Bill has proposed to bring in a categorised age-based certification for the films. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 20 and passed on voice votes, in the absence of the Opposition parties that staged a walkout over their demand to discuss the Manipur crisis.

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 amends the existing Cinematograph Act, 1952. Here is everything you need to know about the propositions of the Bill and how it came into place:

> The Bill proposes to insert a clause 6AA prohibiting people from using “any audio-visual recording device” in any place that is licensed to exhibit films, with the intention of piracy. Further, another clause 6AB says that nobody can “use or abet the use” of a pirated copy. If anybody is found violating these clauses, they can be punished with imprisonment up to three years and a fine of up to 5% of the gross production cost of the film.

> The Bill proposes to introduce three categories of age-based ratings for films that require adult supervision (U/A): U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+.

> The Bill proposes to provide “perpetual validity” to the certificates provided by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Currently, any certificate granted by CBFC is valid throughout India for a period of 10 years.

> Another proposal of the Bill is to give CBFC the power to issue a separate certificate for films with an ‘A’ certificate (films restricted to adults) and ‘S’ certificate (films restricted to members of any profession or special class of persons) for it to be broadcast in television and other media. The Board would sanction the film with a separate certificate, after directing certain “excisions or modifications” that the board sees as fit.

> The Bill was initially introduced in the Rajya Sabha in February 2019, and was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. The Committee presented its report in March 2020 recommending age-based categorisation of films and other suggestions. A revised version of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill came out in 2021 and public comments were sought, along with consultations with stakeholders. It is based on these suggestions that the current Bill has been modified and introduced.