Chandigarh, Sep 24 (Inditop.com) The Indian Music Industry (IMI), an association of 142 music companies, Thursday launched Music Mobile Exchange (MMX), a mobile licensing scheme, to curb music piracy on mobile chip in Punjab.
Under this initiative, mobile stores and outlets offering mobile music services can operate legitimately by opting for an MMX licence from rights holders and sell music without violating the Copyright Act.
“Mobile phones and chips are growing at a phenomenal pace in India and every user wants music on his or her phone. Shopkeepers are currently offering these services illegally and making millions of rupees,” said IMI secretary general Savio D’Souza here.
“The music industry in India is losing more than Rs.300 crore each year from just mobile chip piracy,” D’Souza told reporters.
“We have registered more than 1,000 cases against mobile chip piracy. Punishment ranges from six month to three years imprisonment and fines from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 200,000.”
The MMX licence offers legitimate partnership opportunity with shopkeepers, he said, adding: “IMI is the first enforcement agency in the world to acknowledge this new format of piracy.”
The licence can be acquired for one to three years at a cost ranging from Rs.1,500 to Rs.5,000.
MMX was first launched in Andhra Pradesh in March and more than 650 shopkeepers have opted for the licence.
“The size of the legitimate music market on mobile phones is estimated to be around Rs.300 crore and products include ring tones, full songs and music videos,” D’Souza said.
According to IMI, nearly 45-50 percent of mobile phone models in the market are capable of music transfer that facilitates music piracy.
India has about 495 million mobile subscribers, according to the latest figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
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