For the last few years, the digital streaming platforms have had a dream run in India. It created content with complete freedom that could be streamed directly on Over the Top (OTT) platforms. Now, especially in the time of COVID-19 pandemic, the streaming platforms have swung it all the way, earning rights to big Bollywood films—which wasn’t the case in the pre-pandemic time; the movies would reach the OTTs after weeks of their theatrical run.
But the good times may not last. So far, OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ Hotstar were under the purview of India’s Information Technology and Electronics Ministry. However, on 11 November the Indian Government announced that all digital news, audio and visual content platforms would now be under the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry’s jurisdiction.
The news has predictably worried several industry folks about how the regulations might disrupt their freedom of creating content. Karan…