The Prague Daily Monitor is reporting that a court yesterday upheld the decision to enforce a 12 month suspended prison sentence on Vlastimil Svoboda, head of Otto Publishing, for selling pirate copies of
Goblet of Fire.
The fine imposed upon him has been increased from 200,000 (£6,272) to 300,000 (£9,408) crowns.
10,000 copies of the book were sold in Czech between 2001 - 2004, despite the copyright for the novels belonging to
Albatros publishers.
The court said that the publisher could demand more from his 1 million crown [estimated] (£31,350) profit made from the books.
Quote:
Jaroslav Jandus, representing Albatros, said Albatros is yet to decide whether to file a complaint against Svoboda.
Jandus said there were a more pirate versions of Harry Potter in the Czech Republic, but that Svoboda's was the only case in which the crime was proved.
The novels were uncovered after an inspection in 2004, two years after the initial release of the book. More were found later on. They were apparently sold for 100 crowns (£3.13) each - 390 crowns cheaper than legitimate copies (£15.37).