Mumbai: Companies, institutions or individuals owning Intellectual Properties (IPs) of black & white films whose copyright has expired or is about to expire have been facing a dead-end-like situation.

A key challenge is the lack of clarity in the law about the ownership of colourized versions of black & white films whose copyright has expired.

Increasingly, this has become a pressing issue for companies which own film IPs, preserve and restore them as it limits their monetization opportunities, said legal firms, film IP-owners and film processing and colouring labs with ET.

In a year, copyright of 50-100 black & white films expires in India, said these companies.

According to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, the copyright of a film expires after 61 years of its release. After the copyright expiry, an IP-owner loses a film’s IP. Then the film enters public domain. This makes the film’s IP vulnerable as anyone can colourised the film.

‘Once the copyright term of a film ends, the original owner loses any exclusive claim to the film. A third party is free to colourise or remaster the film. What remains legally unsettled, though, is whether colourisation creates a new, independent copyright, and whether moral rights can still be invoked once the underlying copyright has expired,’ said Priyanka Sinha, co-founder of law firm A&P Partners.

India’s Copyright Act says that derivative work of an original film can have copyright provided there is some originality in it. But the Act does not clearly state whether improving the visual and aural experience of a black-and-white film through colourisation can make the derivative work copyrightable.

The central issue in this is colourised versions are considered as ‘interpretations’ of original works. A simpler way of understanding is Indian epics such as the Ramayana. The Ramayana exists in India’s cultural ecosystem since time immemorial. Due to this, anyone can write his or her own interpretations of the epic. Similarly, once the copyright of a black & white film expires in India, different colourized versions of the same film can be done by multiple people.

"If different creators independently colourize or modify the same film, questions may arise regarding the scope of protection available to each version and how the respective creative contributions are to be distinguished from the underlying work. Differences in colour palettes, shades, costumes and other visual treatments can result in different interpretations," explained Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment.

This lack of IP ownership of a colourised version has complicated the business situation for IP-owners given the costs required for colourising a black & white film. According to Kavita Prasad, managing director, Prasad Corporation, one of the oldest film laboratories in India, the cost of colourisng a black & white film can be in the range of Rs50 lakh-Rs 1 crore.

To deal with this challenge, a formal proposal has been put before the government to extend the 60-year term for films and bring it at par with global standards (70-95 years).

"Today, films generate revenues through OTT, FAST channels, international licensing and emerging AI-based exploitation. We are requesting the government extend the copyright term. This would not only protect commercial interest of rights holders but also support the preservation and restoration of India’s cinematic heritage," explained Shreyans Hirawat, head, Film Business & Innovation, NH Studioz.