Ntcheu man fined K2.5m copyright offenses

A Ntcheu man has been hit with a K2.5 million court fine after his alleged copyright dealings landed him@ in trouble with the law.

The Blantyre Magistrate’s Court has fined a 46-year-old man from Ntcheu, Winston Makawa, K2.5 million after convicting him of four copyright-related offences.

Makawa appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Mchilima and pleaded guilty to all four offences under the Copyright Act of 2016.

The offences include possession of infringing copies for purposes other than private or domestic use, possession of machinery intended for producing infringing copies, reproduction of protected works without authorisation, and distribution of infringing copies.

The court imposed a total fine of K2.5 million, with prison sentences ranging from 12 to 18 months in default of payment for the respective offences.

The court also ordered the confiscation of the machinery used in committing the offences.

Makawa has since paid the full K2.5 million fine to the court.