The government has the potential income of billions, if not, the bankruptcies of millions, if the following news report is anything to go by.
Recently, some cars were checked by police and anyone with any pirated discs was fined Rm300. Then it was found to be too harsh and it was changed to anyone with more than 3 or more copies of the same title would be fined. Just imagine the stalls in flea markets with hundreds of used discs and the number of people having bought them who could be liable.
It is a case of not directing their efforts at the big-time producers (admitting defeat in dealing with them) that they are turning on the private citizens.
Woman faces RM40mil copyright fines
GEORGE TOWN: A woman could be fined up to RM40mil, one of the highest copyright fines in the country after a karaoke set, preloaded with 20,000 pirated songs, was recovered from her electrical appliances shop in Bukit Mertajam here.
This is based on a minimum fine of RM2,000 for each infringed copy if the woman was found guilty under Section 41 (1) of the Copyright Act 1987.
The 29-year-old woman, said to be the shop owner’s daughter, also faces a jail sentence of up to five years. She was nabbed in the shop when an enforcement team, comprising officers from the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry, Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) and Public Performance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PPM), raided the shop at about 4.30pm on Monday after a tip-off.
The ministry’s Penang enforcement head M. Gunaselan said a check at the shop found that the karaoke system package was sold for RM4,800.
It consists of a flat screen television costing RM1,800 and a computerised karaoke set costing RM3,000 which was loaded with the songs.
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