(LAWFUEL) – The Australian Federal Police (AFP) today arrested a man for importing and selling in excess of $220,000 worth of pirated movie and music DVDs.
The 63-year-old Caulfield South man will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court this afternoon, where it will be alleged that he has imported and sold the DVDs on a number of different websites.
Police will allege that the movie and music DVDs were imported from various countries, including China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore, India and the United States.
The investigation began after the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) located a suspicious seller of DVDs on an internet auction website.
An AFACT investigation revealed the man was using several different online user names and that movie DVDs sold by the man were unauthorised copies.
AFACT referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police and a joint operation was launched.
During search warrants executed at the man’s home, computers, computer accessories and more than 5000 unauthorised copies of movie and music DVDs were seized.
Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) and New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft also assisted with the investigation.
AFP National Manager for Economic and Special Operations Warren Gray praised the work of all involved with the investigation.
“The AFP is working closely with its industry partners to disrupt organised intellectual property crime,” Commander Gray said.
“This investigation shows that criminals, who seek to sell unauthorised copies for financial gain, risk facing criminal prosecution.”
The man has been charged with selling, possessing and importing an infringing copy of work, with copyright subsisting in the work, contrary to the Copyright Act 1968.
The maximum penalty for these offences is five years imprisonment and/or a fine of $60,500 per infringement.
