Copyrights Infringement, Landlords to enforcer role?

Landlords ‘no’ to enforcer role

PETALING JAYA: Seven business and real estate associations are opposing the proposed amendments to the Copyright Act 1987 that holds landlords liable when their tenants use their property for intellectual property and copyright infringement activities.

They described the amendments, requiring landlords to police the usage of their premises or properties and to be held responsible for tenants’ wrongdoings, as “unfair, unreasonable, untenable and impractical”.

They also expressed fear that this would dampen the property rental market and discourage foreign and local investors from investing in the property market.

The seven are the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCCIM), Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Asso­ciation Malaysia (Rehda), Malaysian Asso­ciation for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management, Malaysia Retailers Association, Malaysia Retailer-Chains Associa­tion, Building Management Asso­ciation of Malaysia (BMAM) and International Real Estate Federation Malaysia Chapter.

“It is totally unreasonable from the point of enforcement of public law. The enforcement agencies must do their jobs. If they can’t solve them, they should not pass the buck to landlords. Landlords can’t be the police. They neither have firearms nor laws to protect themselves against danger,” said ACCCIM representative Datuk Teo Chiang Kok at a joint press conference here yesterday.

Former Rehda president Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi said the move would increase the cost of doing business as they have to train staff on enforcement and supervision.

BMAM secretary-general S. Venkateswaran said building managers’ responsibility was to ensure properties are in good condition.

“It’s not possible for them to conduct raids as they would require search warrants,” he said, adding that the move would be detrimental to investment initiatives by the government.

Protect the landlords

I REFER to the article on copyright infringement offences committed by tenants. Two weeks ago, there was also a front page article in The Star about problems caused by tenants and the price landlords are paying.
Being an estate agent, an industry player and as the immediate past president of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents, I join other associations and individuals who have objected to holding landlords responsible for copyright infringement offences committed by their tenants.

It is not only unfair but an injustice to hold landlords responsible and the fact that certain ministries or departments not heeding our calls or really understanding the issues, sends a cold message that bureaucracy takes precedence over facts and practices.

Estate agents represent a big majority of landlords in this country and today we feel that the landlords have got the wrong end of the rod. In all fairness, landlords spend a great amount of their savings to invest in property and in return help the property sector to grow and indirectly help drive the economy.

It would be real injustice if landlords are taken to task for the misdeeds of tenants.

The big question is are the landlords being protected?

If the tenants don’t pay electricity or water bills, the landlords have to pay, if the tenants don’t pay rental the landlords have to accept the losses, and evicting the tenant can take a long time as the eviction laws protect the tenants more, if the tenants damage the property the landlords have to pay for it, and now if one uses a pirated software or a pirated DVD the landlords will be charged.

While we enact laws, many times we understand the real issues and practices that result in poor enforcement. The authorities have surely overlooked the fact that in Malaysia, the laws to protect landlords and the laws to act against tenants are insufficient and lacking.

How can we hold landlords responsible for an action of a tenant? This goes against the very grain of fundamental rights and justice — and the guilty goes free.

The explanation that landlords must visit the premises regularly violates the agreement that they must allow the tenant “to peaceably enjoy the demised premises”. It is stated in all tenancy agreements that the tenant shall not do anything unlawful while renting the premises.

Now the authorities want landlords to search for pirated items, pirated software etc. It is a misguided fact that landlords should know their tenants.

This must be a case where the authorities have found a shortcut to solve their problems, forgetting that landlords are the very people that need to be protected.

If there is a situation of landlords colluding or collaborating with the tenant, then the landlords can be taken to task but not for merely renting their premises to an individual.

The entire real estate fraternity will bear evidence that landlords are poorly protected and we don’t need new legislation to hold them responsible for something they don’t have control or jurisdiction over. This is the case of turning landlords into enforcement officers.

K. SOMA SUNDRAM,
Kuala Lumpur.

"Don't punish landlords" as scapegoats
Unfair to make landlords liable for offences committed by tenants, say seven associations

by Alyaa Alhadjri

Datuk Teo Chiang Kok

PETALING JAYA (June 29, 2010): Developers, retailers and building owners are against the proposal to amend the Copyright Act to make landlords liable for copyright infringement offences committed by their tenants.

"Landlords should not be held liable, nor should they be forced to play the role of law enforcement officers to police copyright infringement by their tenants," said Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) president Datuk Teo Chiang Kok today.

"The amendments will unfairly include landlords of premises used for infringing activities -- instead of only focusing on the perpetrators," he said at a press conference where seven associations jointly issued a statement to oppose the proposed amendments.

The associations are ACCCIM, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda), Malaysian Association for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management, the Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysia Retailers-Chain Association, Building Management Association of Malaysia and International Real Estate Federation, Malaysian Chapter.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob had last month announced the government's plan to amend Section 36(2b) and Section 41(2) of the act which pertain to ownership, distribution and sale of copyrighted material without licence.

Now, Section 36(2b) makes it is an offence for any person to import or distribute any article without licence or consent from the copyright owner. This includes pirated movies and music CDs, software and imitation branded goods.

Under the proposed amendment, the landlords will be made liable and a person found with just one infringed copy of copyright material whether for private or commercial use can be charged, instead of a minimum of three infringing copies as the law stands now.

Teo said that the relationship between landlord and tenant was governed by the common law principle that a landlord shall grant their tenant "quiet enjoyment of the premise". "With the proposed amendment, the landlord has to police the usage of the premise and effectively interferes with a fundamental aspect of the relationship with their tenants," he said.

He said that the amendments will not only affect landlords who own commercial premises, but also private property owners, who will be implicated if their tenants are caught infringing copyright laws.

He said that landlords were also exposed to financial liabilities when they took up the role of  "enforcement officers", as they might face legal action from their own tenants due to their inadequate knowledge of copyright laws.

"Law enforcement is the responsibility of the respective government agency and to impose on the landlord is an abdication of their role to private individuals," he said.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob

Rehda past president Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi said it was unfair for the government to "pass the buck" to the landlords and find a scapegoat for its lack of enforcement capabilities. He said for the landlords to train or employ "enforcement officers" just to curb copyright infringement in their premises, would increase their cost of doing business and indirectly deter foreign direct investments.

Chen's views were echoed by Malaysian Association for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management president Richard Chan. "It is unrealistic to expect developers or owners of retail outlets to personally visit and monitor every single unit in their building, to ensure that there is no items sold that infringes copyright laws," he said.

The associations said they have had several dialogues with the ministry since the proposal was mooted in 2007, but to date, the government had not heeded their views. "Every time revisions were made to the proposal, the content was still the same, with only the wordings changed," lamented Teo.

He said the government's stand was that "landlords should know their tenants" before entering into any agreement and should, therefore, be held responsible for any illegal activities conducted in their premises. -- theSun