The Film Censorship Board has been urged to allow the use of forensic watermarks by film producers to identify the source of illegal activities such as piracy, which has a negative impact on the country's creative industry.

According to the Chief Executive Officer and Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM), Zahrin Aris, the use of this technology is important as a security measure to help producers identify the source of content leaks that can lead to piracy activities.

According to him, forensic watermarking allows producers to track the original source in the event of illegal distribution of a film.

"As a precautionary measure from the publisher, we put a watermark.

"At least we know if there is a leak, where it comes from and the source that makes it pirated. So, we have to curb it in that regard," he said.

However, Zahrin informed that his party received a request from LPF so that the materials sent for the evaluation process would not be watermarked.

He said that this matter has raised concerns among publishers as the risk of content leaks can still occur at any time.

"We recently received a request from LPF that when submitting for evaluation, watermarks are not allowed.

"So, we ask the LPF to reconsider the matter," he said.

He added that PFM has also submitted an official letter to the LPF requesting that the existing procedures be reviewed to protect the rights and safety of local works.

"So, we have written a letter and asked for consideration from the LPF to review the procedure," he said.

Source: Awani