Piracy Problems in Hong Kong

Cases

Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance
The two major copyright ordinances in Hong Kong, the Copyright Ordinance and the Prevention of Copyright Piracy Ordinance, were amended by the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance that came into effect on April 1, 2001. The amendment aims to combat corporate piracy. Anyone will be made criminally liable for possessing pirated copies of copyrighted works in the course of, or in connection with, any trade or business. The Ordinance was short-lived. One month after it came into effect, the Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance was enacted in June 2001 to make it partly suspended after protests from the public and the industry.

The Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance was suspended except as it applied to four categories: computer programs, movies, television dramas and musical recordings. In other words, only the use of pirated copies of four categories will bear criminal liability. The relevant provisions on the suspension would expire on July 31, 2003. Again in Feb. 2003, the government proposed to make permanent the suspension arrangement of the Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance 2001. Whether the suspension arrangement will be made permanent is yet to be decided.

Analysis: Originally, the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance was made after public consultation. It was reported that it was the result of pressure from international organizations such as Business Software Alliance. However, the public and local industry were dissatisfied with the government for not consulting them and for putting too much emphasis on the interests of the copyright owners and business software companies rather than local industry. The Ordinance was criticized as having implications unforeseen by the government, for instance, hampering the dissemination of information and classroom teaching as photocopying of printed matters and downloading of information from the Internet might be a criminal offence (Managing Intellectual Property, April 2001; Managing Intellectual Property, June 2001).