Suspended sentence and €70,000 damages bill for karaoke copyright criminal

Helsinki, 9th November 2006

A 47-year-old Swedish man who sold pirate karaoke records was given a 30 day suspended prison sentence for copyright offences in Finland yesterday. The district court of Kemi-Tornio also obliged the defendant to pay more than €70,000 in compensation, damages and expenses to the right holders.

CIAPC Finland traced the offender through his Finnish website, where he offered copies of Finnish karaoke records that had been made without right holders' permission. He also sold these records through advertisements in magazines. The case was investigated by Northern Customs District and the Swedish Police granted executive assistance by raiding the man's premises.

The court found that the defendant had acted wilfully and caused considerable damage to the right holders. The man had sold more than 400 illegally manufactured records within a six month period.

For further information please contact:
Antti Kotilainen
Anti-Piracy Finland
antti.kotilainen@antipiracy.fi