Prague -A Czech court Wednesday gave the head of a Czech publishing house that pirated a Harry Potter book a one-year suspended sentence and a 200,000-koruny fine (10,254 dollars), CTK news agency reported. The court also banned Vlastimil Svoboda from working in publishing for two years.
Publisher Ottovo Nakladatelstvi was accused of printing and distributing a batch of 10,000 pirated copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the number four in the Potter book series.
Another Czech publisher, Albatros, had been licensed to print Czech translations of the popular books by British author JK Rowling.
The pirated run was only accidentally discovered by Albatros employees in 2004, two years after the book first hit Czech bookstores.
Svoboda's lawyer has already appealed the verdict, the daily Hospodarske Noviny reported on its web site.
