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New customs border measures, a requirement under the TRIPS Agreement, has come into operation starting from 20 December 1996 to enable Customs to seize suspected imports of pirated copyright products at the border on the basis of court orders applied by copyright owners in advance. These measures will facilitate copyright owners in initiating civil court actions against persons bringing in pirated goods into Hong Kong.

We have also proposed to introduce additional legal tools in our new Copyright Bill to enhance Customs' ability to enforce against copyright piracy and to facilitate cooperation with copyright owners and enforcement authorities of other countries. Such tools include release of samples of seizures to copyright owners, forfeiture provisions to enable Customs to forfeit seized suspected pirated copyright works, additional presumptions for prosecution, modifications and clarified provisions for use of affidavits.

Introduction of deterrent penalties

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Following the substantial increase in the penalties against copyright piracy activities in May 1995, the Hong Kong courts have taken note of the seriousness of copyright piracy as evidenced by the heavier penalties handed down. In the first nine months of 1996, a total of 87 persons received immediate custodial sentences for offences relating to copyright piracy compared to 18 for the whole of 1995.

In delivering the judgement of the first case tried under the enhanced penalty provisions by the District Court which was concluded in July 1996, the presiding Judge took note of the adverse effects and criticised the criminal behaviour of copyright pirates.

Two more District Court cases have recently been concluded pending sentencing. Another two cases have been scheduled for hearing in the coming few months.

In appropriate cases where the sentence imposed for copyright piracy is manifestly inadequate or wrong in principle, the Attorney General will consider applying to the Court of Appeal for the sentence to be reviewed. If the review is granted and the sentence is increased, that will serve as a binding precedent on the lower courts.