Medianama: Monday, July 08, 2025.
Since November 2023, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has received only nine complaints through Nodal Officers regarding the removal of more than 700 piracy websites hosting copyrighted content, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) told MediaNama in response to a query under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) jointly formed a body of Nodal Officers authorized to issue notices for the removal of piracy websites. As per the notice, intermediaries must take down such links within 48 hours. According to the RTI response, the ministry instructed intermediaries to block the pirated websites upon receiving complaints. However, the Central Public Information Officer said the ministry does not keep a record regarding the removal status of these sites.
Who Are the Nodal Officers Appointed to Tackle Film Piracy?
In November 2023, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) issued a notification appointing Nodal Officers to handle complaints from copyright holders about pirated or otherwise infringing copies of their films circulating online.
According to the notice, when the copyright owner files a complaint, the Nodal Officer must direct the relevant intermediaries to disable access to and remove the copyright-infringing links. If a complaint comes from someone who is neither the copyright owner nor an authorized representative, the officer may decide on a hearing on a case-by-case basis.
The notification is grounded in Section 7(1B)(ii) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, which empowers the government to take “suitable action for removing/disabling access to such an infringing copy exhibited/hosted on an intermediary platform.” Section 6AB itself prohibits anyone from using an infringing copy of a film for public exhibition at an unlicensed venue or in any way that breaches the Copyright Act, 1957.
The RTI reply also noted that all the Nodal Officers, both at the state and central levels, are currently active. The full list of Nodal Officers and their contact addresses was enclosed in the reply.
Online Piracy in India
While appointing the Nodal Officers to counter the online piracy of films, the Government of India noted that the film industry faces losses of up to Rs. 20,000 crore every year due to piracy. Similarly, EY and the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s Rob Report stated that India’s piracy economy generated Rs 224 billion in 2023—the fourth-largest revenue among media and entertainment segments.
In June 2025, MediaNama reported that India ranked as the second-largest market for piracy, according to the Piracy Trends and Insight Report 2024 from MUSO. India accounted for 8.12% of the global traffic to piracy websites, second only to the United States.
Additionally, individuals committed 1,304 piracy-related cybercrimes between 2014 and 2022, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ National Crime Records Bureau. The year 2018 recorded the maximum number of cybercrimes where piracy was the motive.
Ministry of Home Affairs’ Cyber Crimes from NCRB – Master Data: Year- and State-wise Number of Cyber Crimes Committed in India by Types of Motives. https://dataful.in/datasets/19206
During the appointment of the Nodal Officers, the press release stated that the move “would allow instant action by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in case of piracy and will provide relief to the industry.” The government likely created Nodal Officers empowered with takedown authority to bypass bureaucratic delays and accelerate the removal of websites hosting copyrighted content. This “instant” approach is aimed at curbing piracy before users can widely download and duplicate the material—a common practice among piracy communities and website operators, including private trackers.
However, the low number of complaints filed with Nodal Officers over the past one and a half years indicates that producers may not be aware of this joint mechanism of CBFC and MIB. As a result, many producers may still rely on Indian courts to obtain takedown orders to protect their copyrighted content from digital piracy.
Additionally, in its RTI response, the ministry stated that complainants must file complaints by physically submitting the prescribed form. The lack of an online platform to file complaints may explain the low number of registered cases.
The Ministry can consider creating a single, searchable portal for producers and digital platforms to register and track their complaints. Until policymakers promote the existence of “instant” mechanisms as aggressively as pirates promote and mask their sites, the Indian entertainment industry will continue to lose revenue.
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