Hollywood, Bollywood groups lobby panel to curb use of video content to train AI
MPA and India’s Producers Guild have urged a Delhi committee to require licences for AI training on films and clips, even as the DPIIT panel prepares recommendations amid a deepfakes court fight and diverging global rules.
Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association and India’s Producers Guild have pressed a government-appointed committee in New Delhi to curb the use of films, trailers and clips in training artificial intelligence models, arguing that only licensed use will protect creators’ rights and revenues.
In written submissions seen by reporters, the MPA which represents studios including Warner Bros., Paramount and Netflix and the Producers Guild of India have argued that India should avoid creating blanket training exemptions and instead mandate a licensing regime for copyrighted works used by AI developers.
MPA India Managing Director Uday Singh warned such exemptions could “undermine the incentive to create new works,” while the Guild’s chief executive Nitin Tej Ahuja has said licensing is essential for business sustainability.
Who is reviewing India’s rules?
The committee has been formed under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and is chaired by senior official Himani Pande.
It has been tasked with assessing whether India’s copyright law can address AI-related uses and has been preparing recommendations for senior officials.
Deepfakes case has amplified the stakes
Scrutiny in India has intensified after actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan have gone to court over AI-generated videos and questioned YouTube’s AI policies.
Following coverage, hundreds of similar Bollywood AI videos have been removed from the platform, though some content has remained available.
Globally, approaches have diverged: Japan has permitted broad text-and-data-mining exceptions, while the European Union has adopted stricter rules that allow rights holders to opt out of data mining for AI training contrasts cited by industry groups as India weighs its options.
What happens next
The panel has been finalising its recommendations, which are expected to be presented to senior officials in the coming weeks.
Content owners have maintained that any opt-out system would place impractical burdens on studios to police use across myriad AI platforms, while AI companies have pushed for explicit legal certainty to keep innovation on track.