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KUALA LUMPUR: Five restaurants have learnt that content piracy comes with a steep price as court orders and settlements saw them paying a total of RM182,000 in damages, costs and commercial subscription fees to Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS).
The infringements in these five separate cases, brought by MBNS, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad, ranged from using TV boxes to stream Astro channels to misusing cheaper residential Pay-TV packages, effectively depriving legitimate business subscribers of fair value.
The highest two penalties were made against Aditri Sdn Bhd, the operator of Restaurant Pitha Ghar and, QR Bistro, the operator of Nasi Kandar Qashief, which were ordered to pay RM60,000 and RM55,000 respectively, including statutory damages and costs.
In both matters, the High Court of Malaya judge Adlin binti Abdul Majid granted declarations of infringement under Section 36 of the Copyright Act 1987 and issued permanent injunctions restraining any further unauthorised screenings.
For Restaurant Pitha Ghar (Aditri Sdn Bhd), the court found that the restaurant had, using a TV box, illegally screened, the Premier League match Manchester United vs Everton on 9 March 2024 via Astro Supersport 3, together with the pre-, half-time and post-match segments.
For Nasi Kandar Qashief (QR Bistro), the court found that the restaurant had, using a TV box, unlawfully streamed and exhibited the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024 match on 6 March 2024 via the Astro Arena Bola 2 channel, including live commentary.
Meanwhile, the remaining three eateries, namely, Restoran Seapark, Kedai Makanan Seafood Taman Ria, and a kopitiam in Penang, entered into settlement agreements that required them to compensate Astro and subscribe to the proper Astro BIZOne commercial Pay-TV packages.
Collectively, the settlements and subscription conversions from these three cases accounted for RM67,000.
Astro Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Tai Kam Leong commented: “These cases show how costly piracy can be. Businesses that try to undercut the system by misusing residential packages or streaming Astro content illegally often end up paying far more in damages and legal costs than the price of a proper commercial subscription. Beyond protecting our content, Astro’s priority is also to safeguard the interests of business owners who play by the rules by subscribing to our commercial Pay-TV package, Astro BIZOne. In the end, there is no long-term gain in piracy, only legal, financial and reputational risks.”
