PUTRAJAYA (March 20): The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) detained a man on Thursday on suspicion of showing a film to the public without the permission of the copyright owner on social media platform Telegram.

Its enforcement director Azman Adam said an enforcement team from Putrajaya accompanied by a representative of the copyright owner conducted a raid on the 45-year-old suspect's house in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan after intelligence gathering for about two weeks and briefly detained him.

"During the raid, KPDNHEP also confiscated several items belonging to the suspect in the form of communication equipment with an estimated value of RM5,000.

"The man is suspected of having committed an offence under Section 41 (3) of the Copyright Act 1987 which, if convicted, can result in a fine of not less than RM10,000 and not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years," he said in a media statement here today.

He said that even though the man had done it for fun, the ministry views such matters seriously.

He added that the suspect was subsequently released pending further investigation.

Azman advised the public not to share or distribute any copyrighted work, including films, songs, digital books and so on, on any Internet medium without the permission of the copyright owner.

The public are also advised to channel information to the ministry by reporting any piracy activities through the hotline 1-800-886-800 or 03-8882 6088 at the Enforcement Command Centre (ECC) or via WhatsApp to 019-279 4317 or at http://e-aduan.kpdnhep.gov.my or come in person to any nearby KPDNHEP office, so that appropriate action can be taken.