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Literary Review
Literary works and TV rights
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Indian copyright laws, especially after the advent of satellite and digital technologies, are far from adequate to handle infringement. K. KUNHIKRISHNAN, member of a group convened by the Government to look into the steps needed to bring the laws up to date, reflects on some of the issues involved.
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DISPUTES between writers and directors are not uncommon in the film industry and show business all over the world. The Writers Guild of America periodically makes serious issues with Hollywood on the rights of writers. In India also many well-known fiction writers have raised grave objections of distortion and deviation when their literary works have been made into films. Filmmakers have retorted saying that the changes have been made to suit the requirements of the medium of film, which is different from the printed word, where the creativity of the author is conveyed to the reader. It is purely between the author and the reader that the communication takes place and the images while reading the work are in the mind's eye. In the case of a feature film, the duration is very limited time, say an average of 90 to 150 minutes, and it is a powerful medium swaying the emotions of the audience and the larger than life images are created with sophisticated technology and other creative elements. Films are generally seen in the darkness of a theatre and on one's volition and choice.
Another audiovisual medium, the TV, enters the privacy of all families and there is no way one can wish it away. It is also a hungry monster, as it has to churn out programming all through to cater to all sections of audiences. One of the most viewed programmes is the serial, which provides mindless entertainment and promotes crass commercialism. Serials are of various types, from mega to mini-megas, dailies to weeklies, based on the soap operas of the West which run for years and years. The entertainment industry in the country, especially TV with access to more than 130 channels, is poised for a big boom and there has been a mushrooming of a plethora of channels. The recent TV reality survey undertaken by a channel in South India with a sample size of 47,712 in just three states has brought out astounding facts and an insightful understanding about TV viewing habits. It has clearly shown that mother tongue rules and influences channel choice significantly as one goes down the pop strata and that mother tongue has pushed the Hindi channels into obscurity. The success story of the two southern networks with channels in various languages and with distinct native programming, with which the viewer can empathise and identify, is confirmation of the survey, which only brought out the obvious.
The fact is that writing specifically for TV serials, unlike the large-screen writing, is yet to develop as a specific genre; in the silver screen the images are larger than life whereas on the mini-screen it is the reverse. Therefore, production techniques for both media are different and so also the basic scenario script, props and attendant paraphernalia. Like in films, TV serials are also based on scripts: some are written especially for TV and a large number aping the Western which have no cultural values; others are based on literary works to a large extent, though there are those who churn out serial scripts on the day of shooting!
The lure of episodic sequencing and the resultant stretching has attracted many writers to the nascent medium where the production industry is yet to come to terms with the rights of writers, who provide the basic raw material. There have been instances where devious and criminal characters have played havoc with the rights of eminent writers. In fact, an outstanding south Indian language novelist who had lived abroad for a major part of his life had bluntly refused to grant visual media rights for any of his works and to please a friend he had written a film script which was a flop despite the best Director and cast. Literary works when sold are protected by copyright rules but violations are rampant, especially by stretching them into episodes purely for commercial returns for producers and marketing agents. In the West, the Laws of Entertainment and Broadcasting clearly define the limitations and violations and remedies available to the author or the right holders. Even unauthorised copying of a "still frame" constitutes a violation in British law. Apart from legal issues there are also moral and ethical issues affecting the matter of TV rights on literary works bordering on criminality and go unnoticed and hence carried on due to the systemic inadequacies. While the Laws of Entertainment and Broadcasting comprehensively define the rights and the infringement of copyright and the remedies thereof, we do not have a similar comprehensive law. Bending corporate executives, eager to please politicians in power abet such activities shamelessly. Therefore, it is time that such matters and loopholes are plugged and any power of discretion removed. When the channel itself commissions writers, vagaries of rights do prevail in some cases, keeping the writers on tenterhooks.
A typical instance of mutilation of a notable literary work to serve commercial interest had come up in a judicial court recently over a TV serial. The copyright of an excellent novel based on the life of a great freedom fighter and social reformer was sold to a TV producer who had bagged an award for an art film. The original plan was for a weekly year-long serial of 52 episodes. While entrusting the production of the serial, the producer was bound "not to assign its rights and interests to any other party for any valuable consideration" without the express prior approval of the channel. Through an agreement (copy of which is now part of the court record) the producer sold the whole rights over the script to another producer for a consideration and they jointly sold the commercial marketing rights to another party who also agreed to pay a further amount for "complete world rights of the programme". The number of episodes got changed to 130 instead of the original 52 as the channel realised that daily serials are the order of the day. The heirs of the copyright holders approached the court under the Copyright Act. They settled out of court for 260 episodes, but the marketing agency turned producer is not satisfied and managed further episodes from the channel though the ratings did not call for the same as serial did not even figure in the top ten programmes and the story could not be stretched any further. There is a lot to be desired in the murky drama of selling, reselling and further managing further episodes!! This incident is only an illustrative example of the rights of a famous literary work being traded for the benefit of those who are not even remotely connected with creativity, for their personal gains. The marketing agency turned producer is also known to have managed to close the business of a few others. But connections with the right people might have helped in the complaints going unnoticed.
Copyright consists of two main sets of rights, economic rights and the moral rights. When a person creates a literary, or for that matter, a scientific or artistic work, he or she is the owner of that work and is free to decide on its use and can control the destiny of that work. Economic rights are the rights of reproduction, broadcasting, public performance etc. Moral rights include the author's rights to object to any distortion or other modifications of his work that might be prejudicial to his/her honour or reputation. Copyright laws provide for protection of rights for a minimum of 50 years after the death of the author. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), under the U.N. system, has taken into account the impact of new technology and periodically revises the Berne Convention. Neighbouring or related rights also cover broadcasting. In certain countries these related rights are administered by collective management organisations and broadcasters who are "users" are not included in these organisations. A right of broadcasting is a collective management right and the rates and royalties is negotiated for the benefit of authors. In the case referred to, both the moral and economic breaches of contracts and copyrights have gone unhampered. The novel based on historic facts of the life of a social reformer, intellectual and freedom fighter has turned into a cheap show defacing the eminence of the great personality, and thus clearly breaching the moral rights. Moreover, the insult caused on a great literary work of an author who would be one among the best ten modern novelists, is irreparable and irredeemable. It is time that the litterateurs stand up to such acts of devious violation of copyrights so that ethics and morals can prevail.
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