No Selling of Pirated Japanese Plays VCD Since July 11.

Works published before Taiwan had joined WTO are no longer selling since July 11. After Taiwan had joined WTO in 2002, the Japanese-produced video and music works even with no authorization in Taiwan, according to the Copyright Law, became illegal.

 

According to the Copyright Law, Article 91, Paragraph 1 and 3: “Any person who reproduces, without authorization, the work of another person with intention to sell or rent shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of not more than five years, and may, in addition thereto, be imposed with a fine of not less than two hundred thousand New Taiwan Dollars and not more than two million New Taiwan Dollars.” “Any person who commits the first act of crime through reproducing discs shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of not more than five years, and may, in addition thereto, be imposed with a fine of not less than five hundred New Taiwan Dollars and not more than five million New Taiwan Dollars.”

 

Mercuries General Media, Inc., the representative agency of NHK productions in Taiwan expressed: “For a long time, the pirated Japanese plays VCD has been in a gray zone. Despite it was illegal; no Taiwanese representative agencies would report it when sometimes the Japanese company did not offer its authorization. We can only hope for the justice to be done.” (2004.06)

CYJ/CHT