Tamil cinema has been trying to tackle piracy since 2011 when the infamous piracy site TamilRockers was founded. It was after consistent efforts taken by anti-piracy organisations and production houses towards stripping down the pirates’ ad revenue, by teaming up with advertising agencies and meticulously tracking their domains and social media handles, that TamilRockers became inactive in October 2020. Over the years, producers, filmmakers, industry trackers, fans and many others from the industry have joined forces to fight piracy.
“Piracy is seen as a mistake and taken lightly but it should be treated as a crime. It can affect the crores of rupees spent on making big-budget movies,” Sharath Kumar, the founder and managing director of Massbunk Antipiracy, one of the leading anti-piracy organisations in Tamil cinema, tells TNM. The idea of working towards reducing piracy was born when Sharath and other techies – all movie buffs – decided to team up.
“After completing computer science engineering, I wanted to become a filmmaker. At that time, we designed specific ideas to take out piracy from its root. Our motive was not just to protect the particular producer’s content but also to nab the key people involved with these piracy sites,” Sharath says.
In 2017, the team met actor-producer Vishal, who was elected President of the Tamil Film producers Council (TFPC), and producer SR Prabhu, TFPC treasurer. The team was appointed as TFPC’s official anti-piracy wing. Upon completion of the two-year tenure, the team of techies started their own agency where they signed projects with producers directly. “We waive the fee sometimes for small-budget films that face the threat of piracy. We know how the industry is reeling under the impact of the pandemic and so for some clients we even waived 50-75% of our fee,” the 27-year-old says.
Massbunk has worked on over 190 movies, including popular ones like Baahubali 2, KGF, Viswasam, 96, Vishwaroopam 2, Theeran Adhigaram Ondru and Vikram Vedha among others, boasting a piracy eradication rate of 95%.
From blurry, in-theatre videos taken on mobile phones to high-quality content taken directly from the source, there has been an increase in proliferation of piracy over the years, with piracy websites finding newer ways to engage in copyright infringement. The coronavirus outbreak might have led to an OTT (over-the-top) boom across the globe leaving audiences spoilt for choice, but piracy has continued to lurk at every corner of the cinema landscape.
Tracing the growth of piracy in the context of Tamil cinema, Sharath observes that rather than focusing solely on pirated video links from Google and YouTube, Massbunk also collects details about the site owners and admins. “We try and compile a database about the major piracy sites, how they operate, and piracy networks on Telegram, which has become a major piracy hub. We also simultaneously work towards blocking pirated material related to upcoming films. For instance, we slow down the downloadable torrent files, monitor and take down infringing links across the web,” he explains.
In the case of TamilRockers, Sharath points out that multiple production houses like Lyca Productions and Sun Pictures, and platforms like Amazon Prime Video pushed for court orders to get the domains suspended, and also reported the infringing links to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
He also cites successful examples of how the Massbunk team located theatres where movies were pirated with the help of watermark technology. The long list of pirated movies and the theatres where they were shot illegally includes Power Pandi in Cheyyar’s Chellam Paradise, Kavan in Rajapalayam’s Chitra Cinema and Thindivanam’s Swastik Theatre, 8 Thotakkal in Chennai’s Nataraj Theatre, films like Katru Veliyidai and Irumbuthirai in Bengaluru’s Aruna Theatre, and the videos put out by Madrasrockers recorded in Chennai’s Mayajaal.
Citing more examples from recent times, Sharath points out that smaller projects like Jango and IPC 376 were affected because of piracy. “We nabbed and closed multiple cable TV channels and suspended the websites as well as the social media handles of piracy sites,” he says.
Massbunk has partnered with many other collectives and departments over the years in its fight against piracy. Sharath points out that their collaboration with the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Cell helmed by the Superintendent of Police has been largely successful. They have filed over 50 FIRs against major piracy sites and got them suspended. “We’re currently working on compiling a comprehensive and detailed list of major piracy sites. It is almost complete. We will be handing it over to government officials,” Sharath shares.
Efforts towards tackling piracy have gone in vain in the past, especially since piracy players keep changing their domain names. Apart from teaming up with domain resellers to track these URLs, Massbunk has also taken help from fan clubs. “In the case of big-budget films like Kaala, Mersal, Vivegam, Master and Doctor, we had to remove huge chunks of links. Many fans stepped forward to identify and share details of the piracy sites with us,” Sharath remarks, while adding that partnering with social media influencers, industry trackers and other members from the fraternity has also helped in amplifying the message and creating awareness against piracy.
— Arya (@arya_offl) October 14, 2021
Report piracy links of the much awaited action packed movie #VeeramaeVaagaiSoodum, #Saamanyudu & #Obba to Copyright@massbunkantipiracy.com Or DM @MassBunk_Anti the infringing links 24/7.#VVSFromTomorrow #SaamanyuduFromTomorrow #ObbaFromTomorrow pic.twitter.com/VB0gmonzDT
— Vishal (@VishalKOfficial) February 3, 2022
Report piracy links of the much awaited action packed movie of @VishalKOfficial’s#VeeramaeVaagaiSoodum#Saamanyudu #Obba
— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) February 3, 2022
to Copyright@massbunkantipiracy.com
Or
DM @MassBunk_Anti the infringing links 24/7.#VVSFromTomorrow
Watch it in theatres near you!!! pic.twitter.com/NqGj4k9bK4
Sharath points out that having access to tools like Facebook and Instagram’s Rights Manager Tool and YouTube’s content verification tool speeds up the process. “Support from pay per view websites, teaming up with their counterparts like the Telugu Producers’ Council’s anti-piracy wing, and having access to similar tools to combat piracy has helped us,” he says.
The Massbunk team has certainly met its share of roadblocks over the years. Sharath explains that although they are in talks with theatre owners and OTT platforms, each of them come with their own set of challenges. “Theatre owners have already been instructed to install CCTV inside the theatre premises. Many OTT platforms do work along with anti-piracy agencies from the north or abroad but the process isn’t efficient enough since its origin varies from one regional language to the other,” he says.
Sharath also points out that in a number of cases, the accounts and websites are operated by people located in foreign countries, which in turn slows down the legal process. The main admin of the TamilRockers page is based out of France, while the administrators of another major piracy site, TamilGun, are based in London. “All these cases fall under the copyright act but what the law dictates and the consequent punishment varies from one country to the other. Offenders might flee abroad to get away from the cases they face,” he says.
Sharath strongly believes that it also comes down to people. “As these lines from an old Tamil song go: ‘Thirudanai Paarthu Thirunthaavittal Thiruttai Ozhika Mudiyathu’. The point being, despite the work put in by anti-piracy agencies, people will have to be proactive in reporting piracy,” he adds.
In order to report piracy, one can send the details and links to MassBunk Antipiracy on Twitter or by email to Copyright@massbunkantipiracy.com