New provisions of the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, on the liability of directors and partners relating to possession offence and civil liability against the act of circumvention of technological measures used for copyright protection, came into effect today.

If an organisation has committed an offence relating to possession of infringing copies of computer programmes, movies, television dramas or audio or visual recordings for use in business, its directors and partners may be held criminally liable.

The Intellectual Property Department has produced a Guidance Note on Prevention of End-User Piracy in Business, to help organisations better manage their copyright assets and guard against inadvertent end-user piracy in business.

Another Guidance Note for Proponents of Additional Exemptions on Circumvention of Technological Measures aims to facilitate the submission of new proposals to the Government.

A free Software Asset Management Consultancy Programme was launched last October to help the business community, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, better manage their software assets and ensure compliance with the law.

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