Growing plagiarism in content industry: Can content creators make their ideas theft-proof?

Content creators are full of briefs from brands and their media agencies but those briefs rarely turn out to be campaigns for them. Brands and media agencies fish for ideas but when it comes to the implementation, at times they prefer getting it done from some other creator, preferably one that is cost-effective.

Pratik Gupta

“Brands ask for ideas and give 4-5 days to get back. They will get it executed by the cheapest agency for whom everything is on a platter now. It is getting ridiculous day by day,” said Pratik Gupta, Co-Founder, FoxyMoron.

Recently, Ogilvy India dragged Vivo and its creative partner Dentsu Impact to court for copying an idea originally sent by an Ogilvy agency but implemented by Vivo through Dentsu.

Rajan Srinivasan

“What I have seen that agencies consistently call content creators and platforms for ideas and nothing happens out of it. We have become a little shy of giving fully grown ideas to clients till the time things are signed,” said Rajan Srinivasan - Founder & CEO - Spiral Content Solutions, (mainly known for Scatter)

Content experts say what Ogilvy did can still be done in the advertising industry since the campaign size is large and it is easy to track ads. But when it comes to content, the sheer amount of content campaigns is very high, small in value and difficult to keep track.   

“An ad is visible to a lot of people than a content blog. If it’s a content idea and someone visualises it in a different form, then it becomes difficult to keep track of it. In advertising, you can easily see it. It’s easy to track ad campaigns as it doesn’t happen in as abundance as content,” said Srinivasan.

“We have faced problems while having pitched content ideas to a brand and later on seeing very similar ideas put out by them. Also, for smaller outlets, it becomes difficult to pursue such cases,” Srinivasan added.

Gupta said there was no perfect solution but one needed to be with people who have integrity and agencies must blacklist clients that copy ideas. “There are some clients that we have blacklisted. The onus also lies with the creators. They need to start working with the right kind of people. If I call a creator today to send 20 content options, he wouldn’t even ask for an NDA,” he added.

However, Harpreet Bajwa, Co-Founder and CTO, RVCJ Media, said blacklisting clients is no solution as they still keep giving business.

Asked if having a pitching fee is a good idea, Srinivasan said that most creators were not in that position.

“We ask for money when people agree to our broader ideas and agree to do the paperwork. There are some places we have lost and some people have agreed to it,” he said.

Power of implementation and creative-coincidences

Experts also say that it might not always be a case of theft and could be a creative co-incidence as well. 

“The idea is not the problem here as ideas are finite. The problem happens when someone robs the treatment of a certain idea. One single idea can have five different interpretations and can be managed in another five different ways,” said Srinivasan.  

Anirudh Pandita

“You have to be cognisant of the fact that other people can have similar ideas. Sometimes there are multiple shows on the same subject; then you need to accept that other people can also have similar ideas,” said Anirudh Pandita, Co-Founder, Pocket Aces

Pandita said if the creator is pitching something that is absolutely crazy and amazing then, of course, one must make some terms of protection. He said the power lies in the implementation of that idea and nobody else can do what his agency would do in the same way.

“We don’t give just ideas. We provide a full-value solution. You can see my idea and take the script also but you will not be able to execute it in the way we do. We have a huge distribution network. We are not just content creators. As a company, we have a lot of protection and so we are not worried about these things. We work with people whom we trust and that trust level is very high. It is not about just one project, the partnerships tend to be long-term,” Pandita added.

He said that it was time that people realise that it is the full execution that gives you power. “If you don’t have the ability to execute the idea and control any part of that value chain then you are a weak supplier. You need to solve these things with business intelligence and not with high-ended code of ethics to the people. Also, one needs to be unique in your offerings,” he added. 

Is the idea of NDA feasible

“Anyone pitching an idea and knows that the idea has tremendous value should get legal protection. One should get it registered with the scriptwriters’ associations and have legal protections like an NDA,” said Pandita.

Experts suggested that the only solution in sight is that creators ask media agencies and brands sign an NDA or do some paperwork could be there. But that might be tricky as well. 

When the advertising industry worth thousands of crores is still grappling with this problem, the content industry, which is worth a few hundred crores, doesn’t have the luxury of asking something like this at this point in time.

“We give references of creatives at a very broad level. If someone wants me to spell out further, then I insist on paperwork. The paperwork is not an NDA but a commitment that they are going to work with us,” Srinivasan said. 

Gupta suggested that in the future, the content industry should have a watchdog of its own and a place where one can register ideas.

“I think industry bodies like AAAI and IAMAI can push this agenda,” Srinivasan echoed.

RVCJ’s Bajwa said that registering the ideas was also very doable and can save a lot of headaches later.

“We don’t sign NDAs with the clients because if one brand rejects the idea, we will pitch the same idea to another brand. NDAs are mostly from the brand side. I take precautions by registering the idea on the portals first before showing it to the clients,” said Bajwa.

“You can use the same if have to file legal battles on the content-stealing grounds,” Bajwa added.