The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), together with LawQuest, has prepared a white paper arguing for clearer guidelines regarding digital rights management (DRM). In particular the paper examines DRM that covers content on mobile phones. It argues that a clear legal framework is needed in order to ensure that revenues are properly distributed.

Technologies that can search, store, retrieve, deliver and transform digital content can also pave the way for copyright infringement, which ultimately affects artists, creators, owners and consumers. For example, the VCR was initially viewed as a danger to the movie industry, however, it has also offered tremendous growth opportunities. Many media companies have lobbied for adoption of DRM in order to safeguard their interests.

Globally, DRM is used to protect digital content such as software, music and movies from copyright infringement. In the United States DRM was given legal recognition by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Under the DMCA anyone who circumvents DRM locks or develops any mechanism to enable such circumvention, even to enable fair use, could find themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit. Because of this the DMCA has also been criticized as an impediment to innovation, fair use and competition.

Just like the Internet, DRM has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. DRM advocates say that DRM technology is necessary to allow copyright owners to:

• exercise their rights;
  
  
• prevent revenue loss resulting from illegal duplication and importation of their copyright works; and
  
  
• enable more effective market segmentation.

On the other hand DRM critics argue that the phrase 'digital rights management' is misleading and that the word 'rights' should be replaced by 'restrictions', since the mechanisms allow the enforcement of restrictions desired by the creators, developers or publishers, regardless of whether those restrictions actually correspond to their legal rights. Critics also say that exercising digital control will stifle innovation in the entertainment sector especially when this industry has been maturing year after year.

The Indian Copyright Act 1957 is compliant law with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and India is also a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Universal Copyright Convention. The government is currently contemplating amendments to the act and two new proposed sections - entitled "Protection of Technological Measures" and "Protection of Rights Management Information" - deal with DRM. The act already includes comprehensive fair-use provisions and it is hoped that the proposed DRM-related amendments will succeed in striking a balance between DRM and fair use.

Prerak Hora and Vivek Kathpalia, Nishith Desai Associates, Mumbai.