Film-IP owners seek longer copyright terms to unlock colourisation and streaming revenue
Indian film-rights owners including Shemaroo Entertainment are pushing for longer copyright protection, arguing that expiring rights and uncertainty over colourised versions deter restoration investment and limit monetisation across OTT, FAST channels, licensing and AI-led formats.
What happened
Shemaroo Entertainment · Indian film-IP owners seek longer copyright protection as expiring black-and-white film rights and unclear ownership of colourised
Key facts
- 50-100 black-and-white film copyrights expire annually in India
- Copyright term: 61 years after release
- Colourisation cost: Rs 50 lakh-Rs 1 crore per film
- Proposed copyright term: 70-95 years globally
Why this matters
Target partnerships or acquisitions involving Indian legacy-film libraries, restoration capabilities and rights-clearance expertise before an extension reprices valuable black-and-white catalogues.
What to watch
- Government consultation, parliamentary bill or Copyright Office statement on term extension or archival-film protections.
- Court rulings or administrative guidance defining ownership and protection of colourised, restored or AI-enhanced versions of expired films.
- Announcements of large catalogue-restoration partnerships by Shemaroo, Ultra, Rajshri, NFDC or major studios.
- Growth in Indian FAST-channel carriage, AVOD viewing and connected-TV advertising demand for classic-film libraries.
- Restoration budgets, 4K remastering orders and pricing for legacy-film licensing.
- A rising number of high-profile films entering the public domain and subsequent competing uploads or colourised releases.
- Audit chain-of-title, music, performer and remake rights title-by-title before funding restoration or colourisation.
- Create a tiered catalogue strategy: reserve premium stars and classics for 4K restoration, while using lower-cost AI enhancement for long-tail AVOD and FAST inventory.
- Seek co-investment or minimum-guarantee deals with OTT, FAST, telecom and connected-TV platforms to reduce restoration-risk exposure.
- Build provenance, watermarking and version-control systems for AI-colourised titles to support licensing and reduce unauthorised reuse.
- Lobby for narrow transitional protections and explicit treatment of colourised/restored derivative versions, rather than relying solely on a broad copyright-term extension.