MINOTT. his report may be causing transfers

MORE than 4,000 pirated compact discs (CDs), 700 audio tapes, 14 DVDs and nine VHS tapes were yesterday crushed at the Riverton landfill in Kingston.

Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology Phillip Paulwell and a small gathering of music industry personnel witnessed the symbolic destruction of the boot-leg material.

"Beware, the law is going to get you, leave people's intellectual property rights alone, go and do your own. I'm glad to be a part of this exercise as we publicly demonstrate that the country is serious about pirating of people's creative work," Minister Paulwell said.

"The government is grateful," he added, "to the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office - under my ministry - and also to the police for the role that they are now playing to prevent person's works from being pirated."

The CDs, DVDs and cassettes, valued at $1.5 million, were seized by the Intellectual Property Division of the Organised Crime Investigation Division of the constabulary, which has been working with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) to clamp down on breaches of the Copyright and Trademarks Act. More than 15 persons were prosecuted in connection with the seizures.

JIPO said 22 people have been prosecuted for breaching the Copyright and Trademarks Act since January 2003. It said the most recent decision saw a convicted person fined $200,000 or face six months in jail for music piracy. The fine, JIPO said, has been the highest since Jamaica passed the Copyright and Trademarks Act. Yesterday's crushing by a huge tractor was the first public destruction of pirated material confiscated by the police.

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