Bootleggers caught recording movie
Updated at 5.32pm: Customs officers on Monday said that two men have been arrested in the first cinema bootlegging case since new copyright laws came into effect last year.
The two men, aged 26 and 27 respectively, were caught allegedly recording a movie using a digital camera at a cinema on Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mongkok last Friday.
Officers seized HK$10,000 worth of equipment, including a digital video camera and two digital video cassettes.
''This is the first case relating to bootlegging since the amended Prevention of Copyright Piracy Ordinance came into effect on April 1, 2001,'' said Divisional Commander of the Customs Copyright Investigation Division Chong Wai-ming.
Under the amended law it is a criminal offence to bring video recording equipment into a cinema, theatre or concert hall without authorisation or a reasonable excuse.
The maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and three months' imprisonment.
