» »Unlabelled » Copyright order gets more teeth BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Brunei - New 2 Borneo

15:50:00

Copyright order gets more teeth BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Brunei - New 2 Borneo

Copyright order gets more teeth

Posted: 18 Dec 2013 04:03 PM PST

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented to the amendment to the Copyright Order 1999, Borneo Bulletin reported.

The Copyright (Amendment) Order 2013, which came into force on 1st of Safar 1435 Hijrah corresponding with December 4, 2013, will enhance further the enforcement provisions for copyright infringement by increasing penalties for offences under the Copyright Order, adding new offences, strengthening the power of the enforcement agencies and allowing for private prosecutions by way of an authorisation or fiat by the Public Prosecutor.

The new amendments are intended to deter infringement of copyright material particularly copies that are made for commercial purposes, according to a press release from the Attorney General's Chambers.

Under the new amendments, a person that makes infringing copies of a work could face a fine of $10,000 to $20,000 for each infringing copy and imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.

This is a significant increase from the old law, where the maximum fine that could be imposed was $5,000 and maximum imprisonment of two years or both.

The new provisions allow enforcement agencies, in relation to copyright offences, to enter premises and arrest without warrant, to stop search and board vehicles and also access to computerised and digitised data. The amendments further allow for admissibility of evidence of agent provocateurs and protect the identity of informants.

The Copyright (Amendment) Order 2013 is one of the many initiatives undertaken by Brunei Darussalam to improve the protection of intellectual property.

In May this year, Brunei Darussalam was removed from the USTR 301 Special Report. According to the report, Brunei Darussalam had made substantial and meaningful efforts in the area of IPR enforcement, both through civil and criminal enforcement.

Other notable initiatives have been the restructuring of management and administration of intellectual property with the progressive transfer of the Registries of Patent, Industrial Design and Registry of Trademarks to the newly established Brunei Darussalam Intellectual Property Office under the BEDB.

Further developments include Brunei Darussalam's accession to important intellectual property treaties, as well as the laudable efforts by enforcement agencies in curbing the sale of pirated DVDs, CDs and the successful conviction of a vendor well known for selling pirated DVDs, CDs and other copyright works.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.