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Alliance Center for
Intellectual Property Rights


OTT'S LEGAL MAZE: NAVIGATING INDIA'S STREAMING LANDSCAPE

April 15, 2024

*Ms.Parnavi Satyajit Samant

INTRODUCTION

“Entertainment” has always been a part of our lives, since the human civilization various source of entertainment were invented through storytelling, theatre, folk dance etc. However, with the “technology” putting its right foot forward in our life, this live form of entertainment was then captured into cameras and a birth of cinema and television industry took place. Since then, the Television industry has gone through several changes and upgradation making it more viewer friendly and across regions. It all begin with a basic antenna television to a smart TV, where mere one channel on a particular timing was telecasted, with initial channels like “Doordarshan” and “Prasar Bharati” on a black and white picture tube to colour TV, now with a more advanced options, due to the evolution of Television and Broadcasting industry and widespread of the internet services and their accessibility.

Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms, is one such gift of technology which has revolutionized the Indian entertainment industry. With the growing popularity of platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and others, the landscape of content creation and distribution has evolved significantly. Watching one’s favourite entertainment on T.V sitting on your couch in the living room has now been replaced with all time entertainment anywhere and everywhere without any designated time restrictions. OTT is now the pandora of unlimited entertainment reaching millions of audiences. Pandemic has a huge influence for the growth of this industry. However, this digital transformation brings with it a plethora of legal considerations, particularly concerning Intellectual Property (IP) rights.

What is OTT?

Before we dive into the legislative aspect of the OTTs’ let us first have a basic understanding of what OTT is in its actual terms. OTT is known as Over the Top media service, which is a streaming platform offered directly to viewers via the Internet. It bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms—the mediums through which companies have traditionally acted as controllers or distributors of such content. OTT services are typically accessed via websites on personal computers, apps on mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets), digital media players (including video game consoles) or televisions with integrated Smart TV platforms. It is also regarded as an Online television; however, it also includes messaging and voice calling services on apps like WhatsApp, zoom, skype, messenger etc. but in this article, we only focus on OTT television that is the media and broadcasting services.

The key features of the OTT are the On- Demand content the algorithms that makes the content personalized, multiple device compatibility on one subscription, original content etc.

Issues and Challenges faced by the OTT’s

OTT platforms face various legal challenges in terms of their operations, the major task here is the protection of the content and rights of the original owners. IP laws play a huge role in backing up the Over-the-Top industries. The content is usually licensed or most of the times produced by the platform itself. There is also scenario’s where same content is licensed to more than one OTT platform. To generate further revenue OTT’s also sublicense their content to different other platforms. We also see that few movies or web series are available on a particular platform for a certain period, it is also geographically based, that is, the rights of streaming that content in a particular region exhaust and thereafter it is streamed by the same platform in some other regions where the license is acquired or as per their license agreement with the production company. The main aim of all such platform is to make the content available worldwide in different region, however while doing so they have to adhere to the laws prevalent in those different countries where the platform wishes to stream a particular content. This where a difficulty arises in having a single common regulatory law for the OTTs unlike the traditional broadcasting and media, where the content is scrutinised by the censorship board before its theatrical release and thus their already exits standard laws and remedies. We can also find similarities with the online music streaming platforms, where the rights of only certain songs are available and once the right exhausts the songs are removed from those portals.

The major concern faced by these platforms is piracy. The content released on these authorised platforms are made available on different other websites for free of cost for the audience. This leads to loss in revenue for the platforms and therefore infringes the rights of the owner. Along with piracy the copyright infringement and concept of free speech also attacks this online platform, it is whole of a debate to balance between the creative freedom and to avoid conflict very similar to traditional copyright issues.

Are there any Laws governing OTT in India?

OTT platforms must adhere to the regulations under the Copyright Act of 1957 to avoid infringing on copyrighted content. Section 2 (m) of the Act includes content broadcasted through OTT platforms within the scope of copyright protection. To protect copyrighted content, OTT platforms employ Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies, which encrypt the content and ensure that only authorized viewers with valid subscriptions can access and view it. Additionally, they may implement tools for content recognition and removal of infringing material from User-generated Content (UGC).

In India the most essential regulating code for the OTT along with the other laws is the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. These rules categorize digital media into three segments – publishers of news, intermediaries, and Digital Media. Digital media is a form of media content which is stored and transmitted digitally, which majorly includes various types of audio, video, images and different interactive content which is transmitted through the help of internet services on various social media platforms. Over the top /OTT platforms can be referred to as a part or subset of digital media as it contributes in generation and distribution of content, digitally using the internet services. As per these rules OTT platforms must establish a three-tiered grievance process, like those employed by digital media companies. Self-regulatory bodies possess the authority to force publishers of online curated content to update pertinent content summaries, update pertinent content ratings, and make pertinent modifications to content descriptions, age classifications, and access control measures. In addition to providing the Information and Broadcasting Ministry with the information about their companies, digital news organisations and over-the-top (OTT) businesses operating in India, are now required to publish monthly compliance reports detailing the complaints they have received and the specifics of the legal actions they have taken.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The legal intricacies in the arena of new age technology are on an evolving stage, technical evolutions in the entertainment industry leaving behind the age-old traditional TV industry has led to evolution in laws and the necessity for the same. The requirement of a stringent regulatory body especially in the case of the OTTs falls in the preview of difficulties that arise in different situations, the new rules put into effect are helpful for smooth functioning of these platforms than before, however the necessity for more stringent laws arises in front of the judicial system as when the situation differs from what is being already made remedial in the prevalent legal structure.

It is therefore concluded and suggested that as the OTT and internet media services is ever evolving, it is bound to face several challenges like piracy and other technical infringements, during its evolution. The legislature should provide more stringent and less ambiguous rules protecting the rights of OTT owners in terms of piracy and free speech with regards to the type of content they display on their platforms. Indian laws are expected to offer statutory protection to copyright holders in the event of copyright infringement on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. With the increasing popularity of online media platforms, it is more important than ever to protect writers' rights, user data, and trust.

References:
  1. Lata Jha, Streaming services sub-license film rights to generate revenue, livemint, (April 13th, 2024 11:00AM) https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/streaming-services-sub-license-film-rights-to-generate-revenue-11669014992112.html
  2. Aamir Khan, From taboo topics to IPR: How OTT platforms can avoid and manage potential legal pitfalls, The Bar and Bench, (April 13th 2024, 11:30AM). https://www.barandbench.com/columns/from-taboo-topics-to-ipr-how-ott-platforms-can-avoid-and-manage-potential-legal-pitfalls
  3. The Copyright Act, 1957.
  4. (IT) Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
  5. Akkiraju Akhila, Legal Framework of the OTT Platforms in India, Volume 12, Issue 5, ISSN 2319 7064, International Journal Of Science And Research, pg 420, May 2023.
Author:

*Ms. Parnavi Satyajit Samant
BBA LLB, Student, Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bengaluru

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of the Alliance Centre for Intellectual Property Rights(ACIPR) and the Centre does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.