Hollywood and Bollywood linked arms with the announcement of a coalition among the Motion Picture Association of America and seven Indian companies to tackle counterfeiting in one of the world’s largest film markets. The alliance comes as Hollywood tries to tap global markets more aggressively and as Indian movie studios grow in size and stature – narrowing the gap between Indian and U.S. filmmakers, who have not always seen eye-to-eye on intellectual property issues.
The Indian film industry has a rich history of copycat productions and traditionally has had less respect for the sanctity of intellectual property than Hollywood would like.
In 2008, for example, Warner Bros. unsuccessfully sued to block the release of an Indian Punjabi film called “Hari Puttar – A Comedy of Terrors” on the grounds that the name was too close to its Harry Potter series.
“My Name is Khan,” produced by two Indian companies and distributed by Fox in India and the U.S.- as well as successful crossover movies – like “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Avatar,” which both did well in India – have also strengthened ties.
