Right to Copy

"Some do it smartly, some do it shabbily. And they all call it inspiration. It is actually plagiarism — copying blatantly from the West. And it is not just musicians, filmmakers or authors, even photographers are lifting ideas from across the Atlantic." - HT City, Hindustan Times, Delhi, 25 Jun, 2006.

The front page of today's HT City edition carried an article titled "SAME TO SHAME". It featured photogrpahs of Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra (Both Indian model & actresses) alongwith J'Lo and Britney's. The similarities in the images are striking to such an sxtent that you can't label it as an inspiration. Right from the pose and props to the details like out-fit, make up and hairstyling, every bit was copied. Instead of admitting it as a rip-off , photogrpahers in question - Daboo Ratnani and Rakesh Shrestha - call these as their original creation. These are few of the top-notch name in the industry and this is the example they are setting.

Every second flick released recently had ideas, plots or entire sequences lifted from western movies. Everyone knows about music, so no need to talk about that. And barring few fashion designers, no one seems to be original enough. With no stringent copyright laws and enforcement in practice, this goes on at all levels.

It is not at all right to copy, but they feel it's their right to copy.