Hong Kong customs, police crack down on karaoke party rooms over copyright infringement, arresting 12 and seizing HK$700,000 in equipment
- Those arrested included 10 directors of six companies that operated 11 party rooms across city
- Officers from customs’ intellectual property investigation bureau still searching for operators behind 19 other party rooms
Hong Kong customs officers posing as karaoke parlour clients have raided 30 party rooms suspected of using pirated copies of music videos, with 12 people arrested and HK$700,000 worth of equipment seized in a four-day operation.
The joint crackdown with police was launched between Monday and Thursday last week. The 12 arrested included 10 directors of six companies that operated 11 party rooms across the city.
Five of the directors were from the same company running five party rooms in a commercial and residential block in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The 11 men and one woman were detained on suspicion of possessing infringing articles in the course of business – an offence punishable by up to four years in jail and a HK$50,000 fine for each copy under the Copyright Ordinance.
As of Tuesday morning, officers from customs’ intellectual property investigation bureau were still searching for the operators behind the other 19 party rooms involved.