European Parliament backs criminal laws for commercial copyright infringement

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 26 Apr 2007 at 09:29

The European Parliament has approved new EU-wide laws that impose criminal sanctions for the infringement of intellectual property rights for commercial gain.

The deterrent measures proposed by the European Commission range from fines to imprisonment, according to the gravity of the crime.

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. Aiding or abetting and inciting anyone to infringe intellectual property rights will also be treated as a criminal offence. In some cases, remedies can include the seizure and destruction of counterfeited goods.

The Parliament approved the proposals by 374 votes to 278 with 17 abstentions, with some amendments. It excluded patent rights from the scope of the directive and decided that criminal sanctions should apply only to infringements deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage. There will be no criminal sanctions for unauthorised copying committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes.

Counterfeiting is estimated by industry sources to reduce EU GDP by €8 billion annually, with individual companies losing a total of between €45 billion and €65 billion euros.

The Commission proposed the introduction of criminal sanctions following 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.

Nonetheless two groupings of MEPs argued that criminal law does not fall within the EU's remit and called for Parliament to reject the Commission's proposals in their entirety. They were defeated by 452 votes to 197 with 11 abstentions.

The European Parliament's recommendations will now be sent to the Council of Europe for approval by member states.