BELGIUM: Belgian police confiscate counterfeit copies of comic book hero Tintin.

Forged Tintin figurines confiscated by Belgian police were put on display Wednesday (February 7) ahead of their destruction. Comic book hero Tintin was created by Georges Remi, who wrote under the name Herge. The books about his globe-trotting, reporter-turned adventurer have delighted millions in more than 30 languages since they were created in 1929. Tintin travelled to the Soviet Union and the United States, the Congo and Tibet and even to the moon, but his mild-mannered creator rarely ventured beyond his native Brussels. "It's shocking. It's very shocking. It's misleading for the fans of Tintin," said Yi Fei Tchang, whose father became a character in one of Tintin's adventures after striking a friendship with the author. "As far as the line, the colour, the composition and the presentation is concerned, nowhere do they correspond to the works of Herge," Tchang said, pointing out faults in the figurine. Police in Tournai, near the French border, discovered the counterfeit operation last September and are set to destroy them in the coming weeks. In a separate operation, they uncovered 6,000 fraudulent DVDs, each being sold for six euros (eight USD). "Here, it's very innocent. You are offered Tintin items and you could also see the destruction of DVDs. But you should know that spare parts of cars, drugs, clothes and food stuffs - all these are counterfeited. Can you imagine what the consequences can be", said Tournai Chief Inspector Phil D'Heygere. Film piracy cost the Belgian film industry 30 million euros (39 million USD) in 2005, according to the Belgian Anti-piracy Federation (BAF).

ITN Source | February 8, 2007

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