KUALA LUMPUR: Heavier penalties await those who contribute to piracy activities by purchasing or possessing counterfeit VCDs and DVDs.

"Premise owners who lease out their premises for the sake of profit raking and remain nonchalant about their tenants who are found to be indulging in piracy related activities, will also face stiff action," said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob.

"I would like to remind each and everyone that piracy activities stem from demand, and there are quite a number of people who are under the perception that no one would be affected by them purchasing such illegal items, which is untrue.

"Therefore, I am of the opinion that it is not only important that we eradicate not only those who sell and manufacture pirated goods, but also take steps to end the demand for such goods," he said.

Ismail said it was the ministry's vision to create a culture of respect for intellectual property in Malaysian society.

He was speaking at the launch of the Piracy Eradication Campaign 2010 yesterday.

The campaign, which will be carried out vigorously throughout the year, has five main objectives: to "cleanse" shopping complexes of any form of piracy-related activities and materials; ban illegal downloading of materials on the Internet; ensure that laws are abided to by business owners; and, eradicate piracy syndicates.

Ismail said action had been taken in 5,561 cases involving the confiscation of RM275 million (S$118 million) worth of pirated CDs, VCDs and DVDs, from April 2005 to April 2010.

During the same timeframe, the ministry confiscated RM125 million worth of other imitation products in 5,494 cases.

This year alone, ministry enforcement officers had raided 115 premises selling pirated discs and 345 with other imitation products.

Ismail said to further strengthen the ministry's efforts against copyright infringers, amendments were being planned for the Copyright Act 1987.

The bill to amend the act would be tabled in Parliament in June.

"We are paying serious attention to this matter so as to enable our local artistes to also receive their deserved royalties for all their hard labour," added Ismail.