|
MUMBAI: The Motion Picture Association (MPA)
has announced that Hong Kong High Court judge
J Wright has ordered the forfeiture of five
VCD lines, each worth HK$3 million, used to
produce pirated VCDs.
The forfeiture order was issued after the conclusion
of criminal trial and appeal procedures in 2005
when three defendants, including the owners
of the factories, were sentenced to imprisonment
for periods ranging between 21 and 30 months.
The
VCD production lines were seized in August 1998
by Hong Kong Customs and Excise in raids on
two Hong Kong factories, Wah Lee Multi-Media
and Maytronic Industrial. In addition to the
VCD production lines, customs also seized 109,663
VCDs and 36 stampers. Five of the seized stampers
were being used to replicate MPA member company
titles and 71,115 of the seized VCDs were infringing
13 MPA titles. The total value of all seizures
was HK$18.3 million.
The
MPA provided seizure examination during the
raids and maintained full litigation support
throughout the nine year life of the case. The
forfeiture order was proceeded with by customs
only after the owners, Ho Hon-chung and Lam
Kwok-wah, were released from jail.
International
Federation Against Copyright Theft – Greater
China executive director and GM Sam Ho says,
“On behalf of all rightholders, I wholeheartedly
commend the Hong Kong authorities for persevering
with this case. More than nine years after the
initial arrests, the High Court has ordered
the seizure of some very expensive tools of
piracy. This ensures the punishment fits the
crime: the criminals have served jail sentences
and are now being hit in the pocket to the tune
of HK$15 million. Anyone contemplating similar
involvement in piracy will now have to factor
this into their assessment of the relative risks
and rewards associated with the crime.”
MPA
senior VP and regional director (Asia-Pacific)
Mike Ellis says, “The forfeiture of these
production lines not only sends a strong anti-piracy
message but also has the practical effect of
eliminating them from the production cycle.
We congratulate the Hong Kong authorities on
the successful closure of this case.”
|
