20000122

IP rights violators

deprive govt of Rs 9 bn

annually

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The national exchequer suffers a loss of about Rs 9 billion per annum at the hands of the violators of intellectual property rights, according to Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Forum (PIPRF).

In a press statement issued on Friday, the newly formed PIPRF said that the piracy was hurting the business of motion picture industry, book publishers, consumer products makers, computer software, and pharmaceuticals in particular.

The Forum said the pirates were depriving the government of its rightful revenue and causing denial of royalty and other lawful charges to those involved in the production of high quality goods.

The members of the Forum Ñ Pulse Global Home Video, Oxford University Press, Proctor and Gamble, Pakistan Films Producers Association, Pakistan Writers and Musicians, Ora-Tech System and Motion Picture Association of America, Ñ have asked the government to confiscate all the pirated material from the market and continue periodic raids to bring to an end the crime of piracy.