Jordan Times
Friday, April 29, 2005
Pirated CDs, software
confiscated in nationwide campaign
By Ahmad Barakat
AMMAN — Copyright protection teams from the Department of the National Library (DNL)
confiscated thousands of pirated CDs and other illegally duplicated material
during a campaign currently under way across the Kingdom.
The teams plan to inspect Internet caf?s
throughout the country “very soon” to crack down on violators who use pirated
software, DNL Director General Mamoun Talhouni told The Jordan Times.
“In spite of the small number of inspectors running these teams, the department
has been able to carry out the campaign by directing efforts to one front at a
time,” Talhouni said.
He said 62 cases of Copyright Law violations had been referred to court since
the beginning of this year, pointing out that the number of such cases has
totalled 1,117 since 2000.
According to the Copyright Law, a violator is subject to three to 36 months in
prison and fined between JD1,000 and JD3,000.
Talhouni said it was up to the court to decide the fate of the confiscated
material.
A circular was issued by the premier's office earlier this year cautioning all
public departments against using pirated software in accordance with the
Copyright Law, according to Talhouni
He urged institutions and individuals to inform the department of any cases
involving violations of their copyrighted productions.
In a speech he delivered on the occasion of World Intellectual Property (IP) Day
earlier this week, Talhouni emphasised the importance of safeguarding IP rights,
as IP protection encourages research, creativity, and investment, all of which
are important for economic development.
IP includes all rights in relation to inventions, trademarks, registered
designs, and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the
industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
In 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), of which the
Kingdom is a member state, decided to designate a World Intellectual Property
Day to raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in daily life, and
to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development
of societies across the globe.
They chose April 26 as this was the date on which the convention establishing
WIPO originally entered into force in 1970, according to the WIPO website.
The theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day “Think, Imagine,
Create,” was tailored towards young people.
The objectives are to encourage young people to recognise their own ability to
create; to increase understanding of how protecting IP rights helps foster
creativity and innovation; to raise awareness of the importance in daily life of
patents, copyright, trademarks and designs.