Protection To Broadcasters From Signal Piracy Under Indian Copyright Act And Other International Legal Instruments
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 29, 2025
- 2 min read
Bhumika Shah, NALSAR University of Law
INTRODUCTION
The entertainment industry has only been growing every day, and so has Broadcasting. Transborder Broadcasting has only been surging with the rapid technological development, and so there is a need for the laws to keep pace with it. With the rapidly developing technology, satellite broadcasting is becoming common, causing Piracy in the signals. There are 4,550 satellites, as of September 1, 2021, in orbit around Earth at present. While there is some awareness about Piracy in other areas, such as films, artistic works, etc., this is a kind of Piracy that most common people are unaware of. 'Signal Piracy' or 'Signal Theft' is the Piracy or unauthorized use and transmission of signal-carrying programs. Signal Piracy has been causing significant financial losses to the Broadcasters; the broadcasters in developing and least developed countries have been affected. This practice of Piracy makes it difficult for broadcasters to sell content in a foreign market. Talking about Signal Piracy, this not only causes financial losses to states and broadcasters but also discourages broadcasters from producing good content. "Direct to home" and "Peer to Peer" are some present-day broadcasting mediums, Piracy of which is very common and needs protection. These thefts also pose questions about the copyright of the broadcasters.
There are several Broadcasting rights protected in India irrespective of their global status. Copyright Act, 1957, Trade Mark Act, 1999, etc. talk about Broadcasting and rights related to the same. India has a large broadcasting market as it has a big Media industry. Talking about the International arena, Rome Convention, Brussels Convention, also known as the satellite Convention and TRIPS Agreement, deal with the protection of the broadcasters. The protection offered by the Rome Convention is very limited as it does not talk about satellite- based transmission. Still, there are regional agreements that cover such areas, which makes the Rome convention less efficient.
