MediaNama’s Take: Raghav Chadha’s remarks in Parliament highlight a growing disconnect between India’s copyright framework and the way digital platforms enforce it in practice. While the Copyright Act and its accompanying rules set out a process anchored in judicial oversight, enforcement on platforms such as YouTube now operates largely through private systems that bypass those safeguards. As a result, creators experience copyright not as a matter of law, but as a function of platform policy.
This disconnect has tangible consequences. India’s creator economy has matured into a significant source of income for millions, yet enforcement mechanisms can still wipe out channels over seconds-long clips used for commentary, criticism, or education. Moreover, the three-strike regime that governs account terminations has no grounding in Indian statute. Instead, YouTube applies it as a contractual standard, shifting legal risk entirely onto creators.
Chadha’s proposals, therefore, point to a structural issue rather than an isolated grievance. Clear statutory recognition of digital fair use would reduce ambiguity, while proportionality and due-process requirements would realign enforcement with the intent of the law. Crucially, these changes would not weaken copyright protection; they would clarify its limits.
However, legislative clarity alone will not resolve the imbalance. Unless policymakers also confront the reality that platforms have become de facto copyright adjudicators, creators will remain exposed to opaque and automated decision-making. Ultimately, copyright disputes should be resolved through predictable legal processes, not platform rules that operate beyond public scrutiny.
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During the Winter Session of Parliament, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha urged the government to amend the Copyright Act, 1957, arguing that the law has failed to keep pace with India’s digital creator economy. Chadha said millions of Indians now work as digital content creators, including educators, reviewers, satirists, entertainers, musicians, and influencers, whose livelihoods depend on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.
He stressed that digital channels are not casual pursuits but economic assets. Referring to creators’ online pages, Chadha said these platforms are “their source of income, their asset”, built through years of work. However, he warned that automated copyright enforcement allows platforms to erase that work abruptly, adding that livelihoods must be decided by law and not by “arbitrary algorithms”.
Chadha flagged the use of automated copyright strikes, noting that creators risk losing entire channels even when they repurpose copyrighted material for “just 2–3 seconds” for purposes such as commentary, criticism, parody, education, or news reporting. While stating that he respected the rights of copyright holders, Chadha argued that existing enforcement practices…
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