Judge warns of jail term as jury convicts music and movie pirate in Australian first
25 May, 2009
download as PDFSYDNEY – A three week trial and more than 12 hours of jury deliberations has climaxed in Australia’s first guilty verdicts in a criminal copyright trial. On 21 May 2009 twelve jurors found Mr Yong Hong LIN guilty of 15 serious copyright offences in the Sydney District Court.
Mr LIN was the owner of an Eastwood music and movie store raided by New South Wales Police with the assistance of investigators from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) and Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) on 27 February 2007.
The police raid netted more than 16,000 pirate movie and music discs being openly offered for sale to the public. The haul included discs imported into Australia from illegal manufacturing plants in China and illegally burnt discs produced locally.
His Honour Judge KNOX formally recorded convictions against Mr LIN and warned the offences carried jail terms of up to five years. “These are offences the Commonwealth of Australia takes very seriously”, Judge KNOX warned Mr LIN.
The indictable charges brought against Mr LIN by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions are the first copyright matters to proceed on indictment and be heard before a jury. The dramatic trial saw music and movie industry experts give evidence about counterfeit discs manufactured in China and illegally imported into Australia for sale to the detriment of the local market.
“Mr LIN has been judged by twelve of his fellow Australians and they have found his conduct to be criminal; now he must accept the consequences”, said Dean Mitchell, Investigations Manager, MIPI. “This criminal conduct deprives everyone involved in the music industry of reward for their hard work”.
Neil Gane, AFACT Director of Operations, said, “Movie pirates should be in no doubt that their criminal actions will be thoroughly investigated, their operations shut down by Police, and ultimately judged in court.
Piracy hurts community businesses like cinemas and DVD stores, threatens up to 50,000 jobs and puts the future of our local film and television industry at risk”.
Judge KNOX ordered Mr LIN report to the Department of Corrective Services so that a pre-sentence report could be prepared. Mr LIN will be sentenced on 21 August 2009.
Mr LIN was charged with 31 offences relating to copyright theft; the jury convicted on 15 offences and acquitted on the remainder.
Criminal penalties for copyright infringement are up to $60,500 and 5 years imprisonment per offence for individuals, and up to $302,500 for corporations.
Music piracy should be reported to the MIPI hotline: 1800 06 16 16
Movie piracy should be reported to the AFACT hotline: 1800 25 19 96
About MIPI
Music Industry Piracy Investigations Pty Ltd (www.mipi.com.au) is the anti-piracy organisation for the Australian music industry. MIPI represents close to 125 music labels through their association, ARIA and over 1,700 music publishers and songwriters through their association, AMCOS.
MIPI operates a toll-free piracy hotline on 1800 06 16 16 and a report piracy form that can be accessed at www.mipi.com.au/report_piracy/report.htm.
Contact:
For interviews with Dean Mitchell, MIPI, contact:
Samantha Hales: (02) 8569 1177
After hours: 0439 605 765
mipi@mipi.com.au
www.mipi.com.au
About AFACT
AFACT works closely with industry, government, police and educational institutions to address copyright theft and protect the interests of the film and television industry as well as the interests of Australian movie fans.
In 2008, state and federal police conducted 51 raids involving movie piracy and seized 544,697 pirated DVDs. They also seized 488 burners capable of producing 12 million pirated DVDs a year with a potential street value of over $61million.
AFACT acts on behalf of the 50,000 Australians and small businesses under threat from copyright theft, including independent cinemas, video rental stores and film and television producers across the country.
Contact:
For interviews with Neil Gane, AFACT, contact:
Stephen Jenner: (02) 9997 8011
After hours: 0409 776 196
info@afact.com.au
www.afact.com.au
