February 05, 2010

By By Lars Brandle, Brisbane

Cops in the Australian state of Victoria have shuttered what has been described as one of the country's largest illegal music-burning operations.

Almost 100 CD burners and roughly 25,000 discs containing pirated music were seized during a raid Thursday at a suburban CD store in Footscray, Melbourne.

Works by Michael Jackson, ABBA, Boney M, plus Asian recordings and karaoke CDs were discovered among the illegal stash. A 32-year-old man is said to be assisting police with their enquiries.

"This is one of the largest and most blatant illegal music burning labs that we have seen for some time," commented Sabiene Heindl, GM of the Music Industry Piracy Investigations unit, which assisted police in the bust.

In Australia, criminal penalties for copyright infringement are up to $60,500 Australian ($52,000) and five years imprisonment per offence for individuals, and up to $302,500 ($261,000) for corporations.

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