KUALA KANGSAR, MALAYSIA - The owner of a karaoke outlet faces the possibility of being fined at least RM20 million (SGD8 million) for keeping 10,000 unlicensed copies of karaoke recordings in his office.

A task force comprising officials of Public Performance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PPM), Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) and the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry found the recordings when the outlet was raided at 4.30pm yesterday.

Karaoke recordings are owned or controlled by PPM and RIM, who represent more than 1,300 local and international record companies in copyright matters.

RIM operations director Abdul Rahman Ghazali said the karaoke outlet owner was not in during the raid.

"However, the task force recorded a statement from the 58-year-old supervisor of the outlet."

The owner is expected to face a charge under the Copyright Act 1987 for having infringing copies of karaoke recordings for business purposes.

The minimum penalty is RM2,000 a song or five years' imprisonment or both.

The raiding team seized audio visual equipment, including a digital karaoke system which contained the 10,000 karaoke songs, amplifiers, speakers, televisions and a mixer worth RM50,000.

Rahman said any entertainment outlet which used digital karaoke systems containing karaoke recordings must respect the copyright and obtain authorisation from PPM or RIM.

--NST