With a ‘one episode per day’ policy, fans of actor Arshad Warsi’s Asur 2 were eagerly awaiting its second season on June 1. Squashing this plan, pirates leaked the entire season on a few websites and the app Telegram, an infamous hotspot for pirated content.

On June 2, the streaming platform released a statement, which read: “... fans pleaded with the platform to release the balance episodes at one go... now decided to go ‘fan-first’ in its approach and give in to the crazy fandom. The platform will release the balance five episodes at one go today.” After being a major problem for cinemas, piracy has now hit the world of OTT. Trade analyst Atul Mohan says, “25-30 percent of any streaming platform’s monthly revenue is affected by piracy.”

We speak to makers to understand how one deals with the fallout.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta whose latest web show, Scoop, was also a victim of piracy, says, “My insurance agent sent me a screenshot from Scoop, saying ‘Congrats’. It had ‘HD RIP’ written at the bottom. I had to ask him why he was not watching it on the official platform. Piracy is taking away our audience.”

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023, entails that the unauthorised recording and exhibition of films in movie theatres is now an offence. The government can block websites where unauthorised copies of films are transmitted. This doesn’t extend to piracy on OTT.

Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Central Board of Film Certification member: “If the content, which is going to be streamed online, is going to be leaked online, then it is very dismal. The responsibility of subscription-based OTT platforms is now paramount. I barely see any films working in theatres. The regulation mechanism for OTT is different. The debate here should not be how to control this, but to check where the leakage happening. This specific case looks like mala fide intentions. It just doesn’t add up.”

In 2022, Disney+ Hotstar filed an FIR with Bengaluru’s cyber cell, against a few digital platforms that streamed its pirated content. According to a Digital TV Research report, in India, the loss of revenue for OTT, due to piracy was speculated to hit $3.08 billion last year.

Asur 2's creator and writer, Gaurav Shukla, says, “It was daylight robbery and quite disheartening. The content is free for consumers, but advertisers are paying for it. No matter how much you watch [the show] on torrents and free sites, success matters when you watch it on the platform. Views determine success, much like tickets for theatres. I was shocked that the print of the pirated copy was almost similar to the master copy. It was that good.”

Oni Sen, director says, “I am not too well-versed with how piracy affects the business, but I assume it will in some way. The show is available for free officially, so it’s baffling why it would be pirated. The season being leaked — that’s also worrying. A lot of us are baffled at how they managed to sneak the episodes out.”