MUMBAI: On 13 December, a team of 18 officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA), with support from the Malaysian Federation Against Copyright Theft (MFACT), representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA) raided three pirate optical disc burner labs and a related printing facility located in a suburb near the southern state of Johor. Anti-piracy enforcement in the state is gaining momentum; up-to-date, a total of 20 burner lab operations have been crippled this year.

A total of 76 optical disc burners were seized from the three burner labs. A fourth target which was raided later in the day was a printing facility for pirated discs. It is estimated that the burners seized could have produced four million pirated discs per year, generating potential revenue of US$12 million. One female worker in her 40s was also arrested. The raiding party also seized eight printers, 11,382 pirated discs DVDs and VCDs and 4,800 blank DVD-Rs.

It is believed that the labs have been in operation for more than a year and are major suppliers of pirated discs to street vendors throughout Johor Bahru. Among the pirated discs seized were MPA member company titles including Eragon, Ghost Rider, Meet the Robinsons, Night at the Museum, The Departed and local movies – Impak Maksima and Nana Tanjung 2.

“The Johor team’s coordinated action has delivered a powerful blow to the pirate syndicates in Malaysia, hitting them where it hurts most. We congratulate them on another successful raid and look forward to working with them on the next one,” stated Motion Picture Association, Senior Vice President and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, Mike Ellis.