LOCAL pop singers' profits will be better protected as a result of moves by China to step up its efforts in the fight against the pirating of compact discs on the mainland.
Chinese authorities are expected to tell the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department soon that a specific department will be assigned to the problem. Three departments have been dealing with CD piracy.
Sources said the responsible department was likely to be the National Copyright Administration.
Last year the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department expressed concern to mainland authorities about the problem of not having a counterpart to combat the counterfeiting of compact discs.
The executive director of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, Patrick Wong Tse-ting, said the local music industry last year lost about $300 million in profits because of piracy.
To better protect the industry, the mainland Government is apparently considering a law to make CD piracy a criminal offence.
