BUTTERWORTH: Owning even one copy of a pirated VCD or DVD can land a person in court when the Copyright Act 1987 is amended soon.
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday this was one of the proposed amendments being scrutinised by the ministry.
“Under the Copyright Act, it is wrong to sell a pirated DVD or VCD, but it is not wrong to purchase it. Both acts should be deemed wrong,” he told reporters after launching the Consumerism Awareness Programme here yesterday.
He said that under the existing provisions, only those who owned three or more copies of pirated DVD or VCD would face legal action.
The amendment of the Act was aimed, among others, at controlling the sale of pirated DVDs and VCDs in the country.
Under the amendment, he said, owners of premises selling pirated DVDs and VCDs would also face legal action.
However, the form of action for both offences was being fine-tuned by the ministry and the amendment was expected to be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat in March.
Ismail Sabri said that apart from the Copyright Act, four other Acts would also be amended, namely the Consumer Protection Act 1999, the Direct Sales Act 1993, the Price Control Act 1946 and the Hire Purchase Act 1967.
A Competition Bill would also be tabled soon, he added. — Bernama