"The Big Red Monster - Kane" urge kids to fight against Piracy

Kids Media India (KMI), the licensing division of Spacetoon Media Group and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) today announced their joint support towards curbing merchandise piracy in India. The WWE superstar “KANE” who was in Mumbai to promote their Merchandise products expressed his concern on the growing menace of piracy in the country.

Kids Media India (KMI) will facilitate the licensors about information of pirated merchandise that is available across the country, which in turn helps the licensors to conduct raids. The recent successful completion of one such raid conducted in New Delhi by the Delhi Police has resulted in seizing a large consignment of WWE products.

The Indian piracy market is estimated to be more than the organised goods industry but there is no official status on it that growing at maniacal pace, affecting the profitability, and the overall industry. In many countries that have a prevalent culture of pirated product sale and usage, it brings down innovation and creativity but also breeds subversive behavior in the society.

Speaking on the issue of merchandise piracy, Rajiv Sangari, Managing Director and CEO, Spacetoon- South Asia, said,” The Counterfeit market accounts for approx $ 6.07 Billion worldwide and Indian markets has been cluttered with pirated products, we at KMI believe that genuine merchandising product is a right of every child, he should be able to have access to good quality genuine products at economical prices, which will in turn also reduces the dependency on the counterfeit products.”

Ross Walker, WWE Vice president- consumer products division, WWE, added, “In all markets where WWE has active and pending trademark registrations, the company remains committed to protecting its intellectual property in India and eliminating counterfeit products, which profit those individuals and companies intent on providing low quality fake merchandise to the millions of WWE Indian fans.” 

The various categories where in merchandise piracy is rampant includes toys, games, garments, stationary, accessories etc.

About Kids Media India (KMI)
Kids Media India has been spearheading the licensing and merchandising business of Spacetoon Media Group in India. In a short span of time they have struck various licensing deals in India for varied consumer products across categories like apparel, bath and bed, publishing, school bags, eye wear, and few promotional deals. KMI has signed more than 52 licensing deals across various categories in last 12 months. Few leading brands are Kids Animation India (KAI), Bombay Dyeing, Lilliput, Funskool, Portico, Adinath, Bioworld, Brand Concepts, Buddyz, Genius bags, Premsons and many more. The popular licensed and merchandised characters are Marvel Heroes, WWE, Doraemon, Shinchan, Incredible Hulk, Hello kitty, Spidey & Friends, Digimon, Dragon Ballz to name a few.

About World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE)
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) is a publicly traded, privately controlled integrated media (focusing in television, Internet, and live events) and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in the professional wrestling industry, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales. Vince McMahon is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife Linda McMahon holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon and Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of the voting power in the company.

The company's global headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, London and Toronto. The company was previously known as Titan Sports before changing to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc., and most recently becoming World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.