The Association for Culture Development and Copyright and Related Rights Protection “Apollo”will monitor during a year 17 Moldovan TV channels in order to reduce piracy, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on Monday, the Association's chairman Vasile Nastase said the TV channels in Moldova broadcast 80% of the movies without having a contract with the owners of copyright. The radio stations resort to different schemes and pretend to be having such contracts. Vasile Nastase also said that though there are legal instruments for combating piracy, most of the regulating authorities do not react to these violations. “Copyright and related rights are ignored by the Broadcasting Coordination Council, the State Agency on Intellectual Property Protection, and the Ministry of the Interior. We will call on the EU Delegation to Moldova, the U.S. Embassy, the British Embassy, the Embassies of France, Germany and Italy to support our efforts aimed at reducing piracy in the broadcasting sector,” Vasile Nastase stated. Reports will be compiled after the TV channels are monitored, which will be submitted to the competent authorities so that the broadcasters that break the law are held accountable. According to Vasile Nastase, piracy is punished with 3 to 7 years in jail or fine. The fine for broadcasting a movie like “ Harry Potter” is about US$50,000. A Moldovan TV channel in 2010 aired this film four times. “Until the market is dominated by pirates, the broadcasters will not sign contracts with foreign companies,” Vasile Nastase said. He predicted that licensed movies would be broadcast in Moldova in 2-3 years and this fact will improve TV channels' ratings.