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The Government gazetted the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (27 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2003 today (October 3). The Notice provides that the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 (the Ordinance) shall come into operation on November 28, 2003.

The Ordinance, after its commencement, will remove civil and criminal liabilities pertaining to parallel importation of and subsequent dealings in most articles which have embodied in them a computer program (commonly known as computer software products).

The scope of liberalisation, however, does not cover computer software products which contain a computer program but the principal attraction of which is musical sound or visual recordings, movies, television dramas, e-books, or a combination of them.

Under the existing Copyright Ordinance, it is a criminal offence to import otherwise than for private and domestic use or sell parallel-imported copies of a copyright work (including a computer software product) that has been published for less than 18 months in Hong Kong or elsewhere. The maximum penalty is $50,000 per such copy and four years' imprisonment.

"Liberalising the parallel importation of computer software products will increase the availability of such products in the market and benefit consumers," a spokesman for the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau said.

"The liberalisation is also in line with our free-market philosophy and our policy of facilitating the free flow of genuine goods," added the spokesman.

The Notice is a piece of subsidiary legislation and is subject to the negative vetting procedure of the Legislative Council. For details of the changes to be brought by the Ordinance, members of the public may visit the website of the Intellectual Property Department at http://www.info.gov.hk/ipd.

End/Friday, October 3, 2003

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