What are the penalties?

If you or your company are found to be using, selling or distributing pirated software you may be tried individually or together under either civil and criminal law.

To release, reproduce, revise, translate, distribute or publish any software protected by copyright and without the consent of the software copyright owner can be an act of infringement.

As an individual, if you infringe software copyright by releasing, reproducing, revising, translating, distributing or publishing, for sale or hire, infringing copies of software programs, you are subject to a maximum fine of HK$50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment of up to four years.

If you, as an individual or in a business, make or posses for trade or business purpose equipment used for or intended to be used for illegally reproducing software, software manuals or related books you can be subject to a fine up to HK$500,000 and imprisonment of up to eight years.

If you possess an infringing copy of a software program, manual or related book for trade or business purposes, with a view to committing any act infringing the copyright you may be subject to a fine of up to HK$50,000 per infringing copy, as well as imprisonment of up to four years.