North East
Officer in krathong copyright entrapment case transferred

A police superintendent in the north east province of Nakhon Ratchasima has been transferred after a sting operation in which a 15 year old girl was arrested and fined 5,000 baht for alleged copyright infringement (the original demand by the ‘officer’ was much higher but was negotiated down).
Read original story HERE.
The girl was approached by a man claiming to be a copyright agent for the TAC Consumer (copyright owner). He ordered 136 krathongs, traditional floats, for the Loy Krathong festival, decorated with Japanese cartoon characters from a 15 year old who advertised her services on Facebook.
When she delivered the krathongs, however, the customer/officer showed up with police. She was taken to the police station where the “agent” demanded 50,000 baht for copyright infringement. The case was later settled for 5,000 baht by the girl’s father.
TACC, the Thai copyright holder of the cartoon character franchise, said it had not assigned anyone to take legal action against the teenager.
The case went viral on Facebook, with criticism of the “agent” and police for bullying and entrapping the teenager, who was simply trying to earn some money for her education. Local media now reports that the police superintendent involved has been transferred for 30 days, pending an investigation.
The deputy national police chief said the girl’s krathongs didn’t violate copyright because the cartoon character shown didn’t look enough like the copyrighted version, and the agent and police had no authority to arrest or fine her.
He also ordered police to recheck all previous cases to make sure that copyright was actually violated, otherwise all the fines and compensation would have to be returned to the alleged offenders.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
Get more from The Thaiger
Join the conversation and have your say on Thailand news published on The Thaiger.
Thaiger Talk is our new Thaiger Community where you can join the discussion on everything happening in Thailand right now.
Please note that articles are not posted to the forum instantly and can take up to 20 min before being visible. Click for more information and the Thaiger Talk Guidelines.
- Best of1 day ago
Siam Paragon wins the Best Luxury Shopping Mall 2022 Award
- Bangkok3 days ago
5 countries’ representatives walk out when Russian official speaks in Bangkok
- Events6 hours ago
“Eat Out with Marriott Bonvoy”: enjoy food discounts all the way
- 360 Reviews1 day ago
The best private villas to rent in Bangkok for 2022
- Thailand3 days ago
Thailand Pass remains, at least until the end of June
- Tourism2 days ago
Thailand tourism authorities expect 1 million arrivals per month starting June
- Cannabis4 days ago
Download the ‘Plook Ganja’ app to legally grow cannabis at home in Thailand
- Bangkok3 days ago
Alcohol ban in Pattaya and Bangkok from 6pm Saturday
You must be logged in to post a comment Login