JEDDAH, 23 June 2005 — Saudi authorities yesterday destroyed some 612,000 pirated CDs that had been seized at Riyadh airport, said the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Misfar ibn Saad Al-Misfar, supervisor of international information at the ministry, urged people entering the Kingdom to abide by its laws related to intellectual property rights.
Those violating the law would face fines up to SR500,000 ($133,000) and prison terms as long as one year in addition to paying compensations to the victims of violations.
The government has been enforcing the country’s copyright law, which is designed to protect intellectual property such as books, designer clothes, computer programs and DVDs.
Officials of the Ministry of Culture and Information have confiscated a large quantity of pirated CDs in recent months after conducting raids in various parts of the country.
In 2003, the Kingdom introduced a new, tough law as part of its efforts to combat pirated CDs and sales of imitation goods and join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Saudi Arabia has made substantial progress in its WTO talks with the United States and is expected to join the world body before the end of this year. US President George W. Bush has pledged Washington’s support for the Kingdom’s WTO membership.
Authorities have reported remarkable drop in piracy of computer programs after the introduction of the new law. However, the full extent of piracy in the Kingdom is still unknown.
Saudi Arabia is one of 36 countries on the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual “watch list” issued in April for failing to give what the organization considers adequate attention to upholding IPR.
The USTR has a “priority list” of 16 offenders that it says merit even greater attention for IPR violations. Five of them are in the Middle East, namely, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon and Turkey.
