CHENNAI: During her previous tenure as Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa enacted a legislation for putting an end to video piracy, which was ruining the film industry. She also ordered formation of a separate cell to curb video piracy.
On October 2, 2004, the CM amended the Goondas Act to bring piracy offences under its purview.
The Video Piracy Cell (VPC) was formed on February 17, 1995 to check violations relating to the Copyright Act. Initially, the Cell had six units - in Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Six more units were formed on January 6, 2005 - at Chennai–II, Vellore, St. Thomas Mount, Cuddalore, Virudhunagar and Dindigul.
During 2010, the cell filed 2,690 cases and booked 2,664 persons. The value of property seized by the cell was `14.38 crore. During 2011, 2,665 cases were booked, 2,648 persons arrested and pirated CDs/VCDs worth `10.79 crore seized. In all, 1,865 cases ended in conviction and 14 persons were detained under the Goondas Act for involvement in offences relating to video piracy, during 2011.