Europe takes step closer to criminalising piracy

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 21 Mar 2007 at 12:57

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee has approved an EU directive that will impose criminal sanctions for copyright infringement piracy.

The directive put forward by the European Commission would commit all Member States to criminalise intentional infringements on a commercial scale of any intellectual property right carried out.

If approved, it could have implications for a wide range of individuals and organisations, from one person duplicating CDs for a car boot sale to Internet giants such as YouTube and MySpace that host copyright content.

The committee backed the overall aim of the Commission proposal, while amending some of its provisions. They excluded patent rights and decided that criminal sanctions should only apply to those infringements 'deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage'.

Copying by private users for personal, non-profit purposes is excluded.

Penalties will range from fines to imprisonment, depending on the scale of the infringement. In cases of serious crimes committed by a criminal organisation, the maximum penalty must be at least €300,000 and/or four years' imprisonment. The same applies where the offences carry a health or safety risk.

For less serious infringements, the maximum penalties should include criminal and civil fines of at least €100,000. In some cases, remedies can include the seizure and destruction of counterfeited goods.

The directive is the European Commission's response to the European Court of Justice's judgement of 13 September 2005, which ruled that EU laws do allow for measures that insist on criminal sanctions when it is deemed that these are required for effective implementation.

The amended proposals will go before the Parliament next month.