Video stores fined

28 November 2013

Two video stores have been fined several hundred dollars after pleading guilty to supplying unlabelled films to the public.

Paarth International Ltd which trades as Century Video in Dundale Avenue, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, was fined $1800 plus court costs of $260 in the Auckland District Court on six charges and forfeited the 242 DVDs involved; Saagi Film Company Ltd which operates “Krazzy 4 Bollywood”, High Street, Lower Hutt, was fined $600 in the Hutt Valley District Court on two charges relating to the seizure of 30 DVDs.

The Department of Internal Affairs, which prosecuted the two businesses, said there had been a proliferation of offending by video and retail outlets in recent years supplying or selling unlabelled Asian-sourced DVD and VCD films. The offending in both cases was aggravated by its deliberateness. The Department undertook these cases to act as a deterrent and the need to uphold the integrity of the film rating system. More cases are pending.

The Film, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 requires films supplied to the public to be labelled with information about their rating or classification. The unlabelled films in these two cases were found during routine inspections by the Department.

Media contact:
Trevor Henry, senior communications adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
Ph 04 495 7211; cell 021 245 8642