72 Riyadh stores closed for copyrights violation

The Ministry of Culture and Information has closed down 72 shops in Riyadh for copyrights violations of video games, movies and selling unlicensed software, local media reported.
Ali Al-Bishi, head of the Copyrights Department in the ministry said that inspection teams had discovered instances of violation of copyrights and sent orders to close down 72 shops for a period ranging from seven to 60 days.
“These sentences are among a package of punishments stipulated by the copyrights system,” he said.
The system authorizes the copyright violations committee to impose fines ranging from a minimum of SR7,000 to a maximum of SR50,000, depending on the degree of the violation. Punishments could also include compensation of private rights, closing down the store and defamation in local media, Al-Bishi said.
Last year, the copyright violations committee slapped fines of SR5.8 billion on 667 copyright violators and seized 3,000 computers used for violating copyrights.
The department also issued other penalties. The mass media were fined SR1.2 million for violating copyright or displaying coded TV channels. The department blocked 91 websites. Stores selling unlicensed games were fined SR 1.6 million with the confiscation of 3,200 books and 446,000 copied items, the report said.
Most of the violating stores were located in Olayya, Salihiyah, Jaffal and Thuriyyah centers.
The ministry meanwhile issued a severe warning to shops that violate intellectual property rights, saying they would be punished with deterrent steps besides publishing their names in the media.
The antecedents of the violators will also be looked into see if they are repeating the offense.
“The ministry doesn’t object to people using technology but it will step in when anyone starts to criminally exploit technology. It will deal with violators of intellectual property rights with a firm hand,” spokesman of the ministry Abdul Aziz Al-Mulhem said in a statement.
The ministry will also classify the violators depending on the areas in which they are active such as films, songs, serials and video clips.
In addition, the ministry will keep a watch on violations of copyrights, brand names, computer programs and patent rights, he said.
He added that a committee of the ministry will look into each violation and determine the appropriate punishment depending on the seriousness of the violation.