🎥 Fair use? More like “pay us or perish,” says ANI.
🟣 At a Glance
A quiet war has broken out in India’s media space. On one side: ANI, the country’s largest video wire agency, allegedly slapping YouTubers and journalists with copyright claims like Holi colors. On the other: a humble, old-school hero—PTI (Press Trust of India)—offering “free use” news content as a Gandhian slap to this corporate nonsense.
Welcome to the great Indian copyright gundagardi of 2025.
🔥 The Scam: ANI’s Copyright Racket
If you’ve made even a mildly political video on YouTube lately, there’s a good chance ANI has tried to demonetize your video, threaten legal action, or demand a “license fee” that could fund your entire college tuition.
Here’s how the racket works:
- 🎬 You upload a 6-second clip of Modi at a rally to explain voter turnout.
- 🤖 ANI’s bots auto-detect their watermark.
- 📩 You get a copyright strike, demonetization, or video removal.
- ☎️ Then, the “resolution team” (read: legal extortion squad) emails you with a sweet deal:
Pay ₹1.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh and we’ll remove the strike + whitelist your channel. - 🧾 No real negotiation. No fair use discussion. Just Paytm karo, warna channel gaya.
Yes, this is real. And hundreds of independent journalists, election vloggers, and teachers covering Civics 101 have experienced it.
🧠 But Isn’t News Footage Fair Use?
It should be. In any sane democracy, it is.
- News footage, when used for:
- Commentary
- Critique
- Education
- Reporting
BUT — India’s copyright laws are a foggy mess. And since ANI owns exclusive broadcast rights to much of the video feed from government events, they exploit the legal gray zone to demand “royalties” for public footage.
Yes, you heard that right: You’re being charged for using footage of your own Prime Minister.
💿 PTI: Press Trust of India Goes Full Swadeshi
Enter: PTI — the nerdy cousin in the Indian news agency family who’s suddenly become the Robin Hood of the press.
While ANI was slapping lawsuits, PTI decided to offer free video clips of government events under a creative commons-style license for journalists, YouTubers, and indie news creators.
“PTI is committed to preserving the integrity of public interest journalism.” – Official PTI spokesperson, not wearing sunglasses indoors.
PTI has now:
- Launched a public archive of political footage
- Allowed editorial reuse with attribution
- Even collaborated with fact-checking groups to ensure misinfo doesn’t piggyback on free content
This is the kind of uncle who gives you ₹500 without asking “kitna score aaya?”
📊 Who’s Getting Hit the Worst?
ANI’s copyright crackdowns have primarily hit:
| Category | Impact |
|---|---|
| Election Commentary YouTubers | 🚫 Demonetized |
| Civics Educators | ⚠️ Copyright Warning |
| Satirical Channels | 🎯 Targeted by takedowns |
| Local News Reporters | 📉 Video removals |
| Freelance Journalists | 💸 Asked for ‘license fees’ |
Even some school teachers using brief Doordarshan clips for political science lectures were issued notices. Because nothing says democracy like suing a Class 10th teacher.
🧨 The Bigger Picture: Why ANI’s Monopoly Is Dangerous
- ANI has a monopoly on government coverage thanks to its ties with official feeds.
- It is privately owned — not a public institution.
- Its tactics are creating a chilling effect on press freedom.
- Major networks like Republic, Times Now, and NDTV buy packages from ANI — which means they stay silent.
It’s like one kid owns the cricket bat and says, “Bat mera hai, toh main hamesha Virat Kohli banoonga.”
🧠 EduInvesting Take
Look, we’ve roasted crypto bros, SME IPO scams, and startup layoffs… but ANI’s playbook here is straight-up ransomware with better grammar.
Imagine:
- Paying ₹5 lakh to use a clip of your own CM.
- Your honest news report being pulled down for “copyright violation.”
- A public event covered with taxpayer money now being sold back to you.
Meanwhile, PTI, the Gandalf of newswire agencies, just walked in and said:
“You shall not pass…copyright strikes.”
🚨 What Should YouTubers Do?
Here’s your anti-ANI survival kit:
- 📥 Switch to PTI for any public event footage. They now have a library for creators.
- 🧾 Cite ‘fair dealing’ under Section 52 of the Indian Copyright Act.
- 🔒 Blur ANI watermarks if using 1-2 seconds.
- 🚫 Don’t pay extortionate “license” amounts. They’ll keep coming back.
- 👊 Band together. A class action might be brewing.
- 🧠 Consider adding disclaimers or using public domain footage.
🧾 Final Words
What ANI is doing isn’t copyright protection. It’s copyright colonization.
And unless more creators push back, you’ll soon need to pay a “usage fee” to record your own MP’s rally.
In a country of 700M+ internet users, ANI is acting like a colonial-era zamindar charging “haq ka bhada” for every byte.
PTI just lit a diya in this blackout.
Let’s not blow it out.
🗓️ Published: May 28, 2025
✍️ By: Prashant Marathe
📁 Tags: ANI copyright scam, PTI vs ANI, fair use India, YouTube legal issues, Indian media monopoly, newswire extortion, independent journalists India, EduInvesting
