7,000 pirated items confiscated during Ramadan

AMMAN — The National Library Department (NLD) said Sunday it fined 28 coffee shops during Ramadan for buying family subscriptions instead of commercial subscriptions to show 2014 World Cup matches at their venues.

“During Ramadan, we conducted campaigns on hundreds of coffee shops and those violating the law were fined and referred to court,” NLD Director General Mohammad Abbadi told The Jordan Times.

Also during Ramadan, the NLD conducted several campaigns across the country’s 12 governorates to crack down on stores selling illegal software and pirated CDs and DVDs.

The NLD confiscated more than 7,000 pirated items and referred 18 storeowners to court during Ramadan.

The NLD confiscated more than 200,000 pirated items, including software, video games, movies and music DVDs since the beginning of this year, said Abbadi.

He added that the NLD will conduct a campaign immediately after Ramadan to crack down on satellite channels illegally broadcasting shows without gaining the approval of their copyright holders.

Software piracy in Jordan dropped by 1 per cent in 2013 and the Kingdom was among five Arab states with the lowest illegal use of unlicensed software, according to a recent study by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Jordan registered a 57 per cent software piracy rating in 2013, compared to 58 per cent in 2011 and 57 per cent in 2009, the 2013 BSA Global Software Survey said.

The Jordanian Copyright Law stipulates that it is a crime to download software, music or movies that are protected under the legislation. Offenders face a prison sentence of between three months and three years and a fine ranging from JD1,000 to JD6,000.

The NLD has referred more than 4,000 cases of intellectual property rights violations to court since 2000.