National Award-winning actor Annu Kapoor believes the central government needs to make strong laws in order to stop piracy of music and films in the Indian entertainment industry.

"When we think about music piracy, it has been always there. We will discuss it between ourselves for the welfare of the industry," Annu said here at the fifth edition of CII Big Picture Summit 2016 on
Tuesday.

"But till the time the government doesn't introduce strong measures, steps and laws, and implement it to punish the person doing it, you will not be able to stop piracy. Strong government intervention is required to stop piracy of songs or films," added Annu, best known for hosting the popular TV show 'Antakshari'.

At the event, Annu took part in the session 'The Day the Music Industry Died: Bye Bye 'Musical' Pie'. He was joined by Paramdeep Singh, co-founder, Saavn USA; Rajeev Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; John Rose, Senior Partner and Director, The Boston Consulting Group, New York; Shridhar Subramaniam, President - India and Middle East, Sony Music; and Akshai Sarin, musician and CEO, Ttogether: Disruptive X Culture Marketing.

The 'Vicky Donor' actor said if there are not any strict laws to stop piracy, nobody will consider it seriously.

"If you don't want somebody to use your compositions without any law, then somebody will use the same composition in 'bhajans'," Annu said.

"If you hear 'bhajans', most of the times they lift the tune and include their own lyrics to it. Nobody can stop piracy till the time the government is serious about the issue," he added.

Annu also feels that music directors should not think of stealing one another's compositions.

He said: "Piracy is not a new thing. It's just that we have started talking about it now."

"Also the music directors should stop lifting songs of other composers. You can't name a single music director, who has never lifted songs of others in the industry. They call it 'inspiration'. It's clearly stealing."

(Source: IANS)