BananaIP is happy to share the submissions made to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by our Accessibility Attorneys with respect to “Draft Guidelines of Accessibility Standards in the Public Exhibition of Feature Films in Cinema Theatres for Persons with Hearing and Visual Impairment.”
To learn about the basics of accessibility, you may read ‘Understanding Accessibility‘ by Dr. Kalyan C. Kankanala. The book can be downloaded from Google Play Store or Apple Books.
Guidelines of Accessibility Standards: Comments and Suggestions
I. BACKGROUND
On 8th January 2024, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) published a draft of the Guidelines of Accessibility Standards in the Public Exhibition of Feature Films in Cinema Theatres for Persons with hearing and visual impairments (hereinafter “Guidelines”). These Guidelines are expected to be applicable for those feature films that are certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for public exhibition in cinema halls/movie theatres for commercial purposes. The Guidelines were made available for public scrutiny on 8th January 2024, seeking comments and suggestions by 31st January 2024. In response, the accessibility law attorney team at BananaIP Counsels (“BananaIP”) is hereby submitting comments and suggestions for the MoIB’s consideration. The comments and suggestions submitted herein are based on our ground-level experience of facilitating and implementing accessibility standards and are being submitted with the bonafide intent of enabling the MoIB to improve the guidelines based on implementation level feedback. The views expressed in the submissions are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of BananaIP, other attorneys in the firm, or its clients.
II. COMMENTS AND SUBMISSIONS
A. GENERAL COMMENT AND PROPOSAL
Entertainment content and information today is not fully accessible for persons with disabilities, and these Guidelines are much needed to facilitate full and equal access to everyone. While the Guidelines establish a well-defined framework towards making entertainment content and information in the form of films accessible, we believe that the proposed distributed responsibility system might make implementation difficult. In the context of our experience with enforcing and implementing different accessibility Guidelines at the ground level, we are of the opinion that placing primary responsibility on the originator of content might enable implementation with relatively less barriers and hurdles. Therefore, we propose that the primary responsibility of making content accessible be placed on the content owner or the exclusive licensee, which may be the producer of the film, or the producer’s assignee or licensee, which may include distributors.
Most films are distributed by producers directly or through distributors by way of theatrical distribution agreements with owners or controllers of theatres, also referred to as exhibitors. One of the primary modes of distribution is through multiplexes and/or theatres owned by companies through revenue-sharing arrangements. Producers or their assignees/licensees control the rights over the film in theatrical or other forms of distribution, and therefore, the primary responsibility of ensuring that films are fully accessible for persons with disabilities may be placed on them. This responsibility may begin with certification of the film by CBFC and may extend to all forms, modes, and means of distribution.
While theatre owners may be required to provide physical and digital infrastructure to facilitate accessible communication of films and other content, their responsibility may be limited to such infrastructure. Rightfully, the draft Guidelines clearly places the infrastructure responsibility for seats, devices, apps, ticketing, etc., on theatre owners/controllers, and the responsibility to communicate accessible films is placed on exhibitors, which once again could be owners/controllers of theatres or their licensees. In our opinion, the responsibility of communicating the film to persons with disabilities in an accessible form may be placed on producers, or their assignees/licensees, and not on exhibitors.
Proposed Model
The responsibility for facilitating accessible entertainment content may be placed on producers of the content and theatre owners. The primary responsibility for creating accessible content shall be on producers, and this may include making the content available in all formats required to ensure that the content can be accessed through platforms, applications, devices, and technologies that are normally in use for making content accessible to persons with disabilities. The primary responsibility for providing the requisite physical and technological infrastructure to access theatres, and deliver content within them shall be on theatre owners. Producers shall include their assignees and licensees, and theatre owners shall include their licensees, leaseholders, etc. In our opinion, the proposed demarcation will place clear responsibility and will facilitate implementation of the accessibility standards at the ground level.
B. SPECIFIC COMMENTS AND PROPOSALS
1. Provision in Guidelines
“2…”Feature Films” means fictionalized story film running not less than 72 minutes.”
Comment
This definition covers only works of fiction and does not cover documentaries, biographies, etc. The definition may be modified to include all kinds of films.
Proposed Change
The definition may be modified as follows:
“2…”Feature Film(s)” means a Cinematograph Film that has a run time of at least seventy two (72) minutes. The meaning of the phrase ‘Cinematograph Film used in this provision shall be as provided under Section 2(f) of the Copyright Act..”
2. Provision in Guidelines
“5.4 The accessible features of the films being displayed in theatres may be deployed by licensees of the cinema theatre by means of –
(i) Dedicated show in the theatres – Dedicated days and timing of the screenings of feature films with accessible services to be made for hearing-impaired/visually- impaired viewers.
(ii) Using the following separate equipment in theatres (during the normal show) –
a. Mirror Captions – Inverted Captions of the movie are played at the back of the cinema. A mirror is provided that can stored in the cup holder and of the seat, and can be adjusted in a way that enables one to see the captions in that mirror. As the movie is being watched, the Closed Captions (CC) are reflected the right way around in the mirror.
b. Closed Captioning Smart Glasses with wires, wherein captions are in display at the bottom of the glasses
c. Closed Caption Stands – A flexible long pole by the side of viewer that is attached to a small rectangular screen is provided to displays the captions.
d. Closed Caption display below the Screen – A separate small screen immediately below the big screen with synchronized projection display of captions/subtitles.
e. Headphones/Earphones for Audio Description (AD) – Audio Description is provided through headphones or earphones attached to specific AD-enabled seats.
(iii) Using Mobile Apps (during the normal show) – The film producers would strive to integrate the CC & AD for the film in any of the suitable software applications, to extend the accessibility feature in any usual screening of the film in the theatres, through the users may download for use on their personal device.
(iv) Using other technologies: Use of any other technological inputs as supportive/assistive devices and software applications as available in the market.”
Comment
It may be clarified in this provision that accessibility-related facilities are to be provided at no extra cost to persons with disabilities.
Proposed change
5.4 The accessible features of the films being communicated to the public may be deployed by licensees of the cinema theatre, at no extra cost, by means of –
(i) Using the following separate equipment in theatres (during the regular show) –
a) Mirror Captions – Inverted Captions of the movie are played at the back of the cinema. A mirror is provided that can stored in the cup holder and of the seat, and can be adjusted in a way that enables one to see the captions in that mirror. As the movie is being watched, the Closed Captions (CC) are reflected the right way around in the mirror.
b) Closed Captioning Smart Glasses with wires, wherein captions are in display at the bottom of the glasses
c) Closed Caption Stands – A flexible long pole by the side of viewer that is attached to a small rectangular screen is provided to displays the captions.
d) Closed Caption display below the Screen – A separate small screen immediately below the big screen with synchronized projection display of captions/subtitles.
e) Headphones/Earphones for Audio Description (AD) – Audio Description is provided through headphones or earphones attached to specific AD-enabled seats.
(ii) Using Mobile Apps (during the regular show) – The film producers would strive to integrate the CC & AD for the film in any of the suitable software applications, to extend the accessibility feature in any usual screening of the film in the theatres, through the users may download for use on their personal device.
(iii)Using other technologies: Use of any other technological inputs as supportive/assistive devices and software applications as available in the market.
(iv) Dedicated show in the theatres – Dedicated days and timing of the screenings of feature films with accessible services to be made for hearing-impaired/visually- impaired viewers on request.
3. Provision in Guidelines
“6.1 The applicants for certification of films for theatrical release shall arrange the access-service for their films as per the following schedule:
a) All feature films that are dubbed in more than one language would be required to provide at least one accessibility feature each for the hearing impaired and visually impaired, i.e. CC/OC and AD, within 6 months from the effective date of implementation of these guidelines.”
Comment
The responsibility to make accessible services available within 6 months may also be extended to films that are released in more than one state or union territory.
Proposed Change
6.1 The applicants for certification of films for theatrical release shall arrange the access-service for their films as per the following schedule:
a. All feature films that are dubbed in more than one language and/or released in more that one state or union territory would be required to provide at least one accessibility feature each for the hearing impaired and visually impaired, i.e. CC/OC and AD, within 6 months from the effective date of implementation of these guidelines.
4. Provision in Guidelines
“6.1 …c. All other Feature Films being certified through CBFC and meant for theatrical release (digital feature films), would be required to mandatorily provide accessibility features for CC, OC & AD, from 3 years from the date of issue of these guidelines.”
Comment
It may be clarified that all feature films certified by CBFC are required to provide access services after 3 years from the date of these Guidelines.
Proposed change
6.1 … c. All other Feature Films being certified through CBFC including the ones meant for theatrical release, digital/OTT or Television distribution , would be required to mandatorily provide accessibility features for CC, OC & AD, from 3 years from the date of issue of these guidelines.
III. FURTHER INFORMATION
The authors will be pleased to provide any further information or documents MoIB may need with respect to the comments/inputs in this document. We may be also reached at:
Email: contact@bananaip.com
Phone: +91-80-49536207, +91-80-26860414/24/34
IV. ABOUT BANANAIP COUNSELS
BananaIP Counsels is an intellectual property (IP) firm that also provides accessibility law services. Attorneys at the firm have undertaken actions at legal and community levels to facilitate and enable accessibility to persons with disabilities. The comments provided in this document are based on experience of attorneys at the Firm while implementing accessibility in different contexts.
For more details please feel free to visit : https://www.bananaip.com
V. DISCLAIMER
The comments and suggestions in this submission are based on the experience and understanding of its authors, and it is understood that other attorneys and experts may have differing opinions with respect to the Guidelines. The views expressed in this document are those of the authors alone, and do not represent the views of their colleagues, BananaIP, or the firm’s clients.
