Keelung Customs (KLC) just said: “imported goods such as movie or cartoon action figures, models, sculptures, etc. are within the domain of  ‘pictorial and graphical works’ and protected by the Copyright Act; therefore, importers are reminded to acquire authorization from right holders before importation of goods bearing intellectual property rights(IPR) so as not to infringe such rights unintentionally.”

The Customs further explained that according to Article 87 and 90-1 of the Copyright Act, the importing of any copies reproduced without the authorization of the economic rights holder will be deemed as an infringement, and the right holders may apply to customs authorities to suspend the release of the infringing goods. Once the right holder has obtained a final and unappealable civil judgment confirming the infringement, the goods concerned will be confiscated by customs authorities, while the infringer will be liable for costs such as storage fee, loading and unloading charge, as well as for expenses connected with destruction of the goods. On top of that, violation of the Copyright Act may also result in monetary and criminal penalties.

KLC added: “based on Article 39-1 of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act, imported goods that are not genuine goods parallel imported and have been declared to Customs infringes the IPR, the importer in question will be imposed a maximum fine of three times the value of the cargoes and the cargoes shall be confiscated. Therefore, importers are urged to pay attention to IPR-related laws before importation, as negligence of IPR-related requirements may not only cause trouble but also cost a fortune.”