Shops selling karaoke systems with a large number of infringing songs and movies first found by the C&ED

Date: 12/10/2009

An enforcement action was carried out by the C&ED a few days ago (October 9) in which four shops in Sham Shui Po were raided. During the operation, a total of 30 karaoke systems storing suspected infringing songs and movies worth about HK$100,000 were seized and seven males were arrested.

Divisional Commander (Copyright Investigation), Mr Michael Kwan, at a press briefing on the operation today (October 12) said that Customs carried out investigations after receiving reports on the sale of karaoke systems stored with suspected infringing songs.

Following investigations, Customs officers launched an operation on October 9, raiding four shops selling sound equipment in Sham Shui Po. As a result, at two of the shops, 19 sets of karaoke systems were seized. Upon examination, the hard disk of each system was found storing some 20 000 suspected infringing songs and a number of suspected infringing movies. The selling price of each set of karaoke system was about HK$5,000. In the other two shops, the Customs officers found 11 sets of karaoke systems sold together with two optical discs with some 50 000 suspected infringing songs zipped and stored inside by means of computer zip programs. The selling price of each set of karaoke system was about HK$1,700. Three salespersons and four proprietors of the shops aged between 18 and 47 were arrested during the operation.
Under the Copyright Ordinance, any person in possession of infringing copies of copyright works for the purpose of sale is liable to prosecution. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for four years and a fine of HK$50,000 per each infringing copy. Moreover, anyone who knowingly used pirated software in business committed a criminal offence.

Anyone who comes across any suspected infringement activities can report to the Customs by calling the 24-hour hotline 2545 6182.

Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau
Customs and Excise Department
October 12, 2009

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