MUMBAI: The Rajasthan Vigilance Commission chairman R K Sahara has asked film producers to lend their support in fighting piracy.

The Jaipur based commission has requested producers to avoid the tendency of selling video and cable rights within 12 months from the theatrical release of their feature films.

Says a trade source, “Producers usually undertake to refrain from selling the video or cable rights within a year when they hand over the film to distributors for the theatrical release, but they often sell them prematurely. It is pertinent to note that this creates awkward situations and affects the entire film trade. If this continues, it will become impossible to curb the menace of illegal screening of movies through video parlours or the cable network.”

The problem came to the fore when recent raids on illegal video parlours in Jodhpur revealed that new films were being screened without restraint. According to sources, the state government of Rajasthan has re-drafted the Rajasthan Video Films (Regulation of Exhibition) Act, 1990 deeming illegal the screening of films in video parlours or cable television within a year of its theatrical release. Even though the legislation has been in effect since 1 April 2006, parlours screen such films, and produce documents regarding video rights for commercial exhibition by the producer of the film, if they are raided following complaints.