For Immediate Release

AAP Pressure on Pirates Intensifies in Series of 2004 Raids

Book pirates in six Asian territories felt the long reach of AAP’s anti-piracy campaign in a series of raids coordinated by the Association and carried out from January through early May. In South Korea in March, foreign and local publishers joined forced for the first time in years, conducting raids under the authority of the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Korea Reprographic and Transmission Rights Center (KRTRC). The enforcement actions took place near sixteen different universities in Seoul and Kyunggi Province. The ability to work with the Ministry and the KRTRC is an encouraging development that will, in all likelihood, enable AAP members to carry out raids more frequently in Korea. In addition, AAP conducted raids on March 8 in Suwon City, in conjunction with the Suwon Prosecutor’s Office. The raids targeted two copyshops on the campus of Ajou University in Suwon City. Authorities arrested the shop owners and seized 148 infringing copies of books (along with 12 originals). The following week, AAP and authorities raided the manufacturing facility owned by the copyshop owner, resulting in the seizure of some 1,000 illegal copies along with master computer files. Seized in the raids were illegal copies of books published by eight AAP member companies: Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Thomson Learning, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, and John Wiley & Sons. South Korean enforcement continued in April with a raid, in conjunction with the Ansan Prosecutor’s Office and local authorities, on Myung Jin Gi Hwick copy shop and a warehouse facility operated by the copyshop owner. Seized were more than 5,000 infringing copies of titles belonging to Pearson Education, John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier, Thomson Learning, McGraw-Hill, Oxford University Press, and others. Following their arrest, the owners of the shop admitted to having copied more than 25,000 books over a two-year period. These significant advances in enforcement in Korea are coupled with ongoing and enhanced efforts in other territories in the region. AAP worked with local authorities to raid two copyshops in the Philippines on May 3. Sixteen photocopying machines were confiscated, in addition to the seizure of infringing copies (titles are still being inventoried), including titles published by McGraw-Hill and Elsevier. In Hong Kong, between February and April, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Bureau carried out raids on seven copyshops, with cooperation from AAP and its member companies. A total of more than 1,200 infringing copies, eight copy machines, and six binding machines were seized in the raids, and three arrests resulted. Coordinated raids on ten copyshops in five cities in Taiwan were undertaken on March 7 in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice and local officials. The more than 228 illegal books seized are in the process of being inventoried for specific titles and publishers. Raids were carried out in January on three copyshops in Malaysia, near Taylor’s University in Subang Jaya. Undertaken in cooperation with officials from the Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and AAP local counsel, the raids resulted in the confiscation of eight copying machines, three binding machines and the seizure of 500 sets of infringing books. Patricia Judd, AAP’s Director of International Copyright Enforcement, was traveling in Kuala Lumpur at the time and was able to participate in the raid. In Singapore, two copyshops were raided in January in conjunction with local authorities and counsel. One of the same facilities was raided again in April, along with two other operations run by Hilton Trading. The April raid yielded 39 infringing copies and 30 original books being used for copying purposes. In carrying out its overseas anti-piracy campaign, AAP and the regional representatives of member publishers work in close alliance, and in cooperation with appropriate local government authorities. The Association and its members are determined to pursue appropriate legal action growing out of the raids.

For more on AAP’s International Copyright Protection Program contact Patricia Judd, AAP Washington, pjudd@publishers.org.