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European Union Expected to Adopt Anti Piracy Anti Counterfeiting Legislation
The European Parliament and European Union (EU) governments are expected to jointly adopt new draft legislation to combat piracy and counterfeiting on a commercial scale. The draft legislation will not deal with the downloading of music for private use.
The European Parliament and European Union (EU) governments are expected to jointly adopt new draft legislation to combat piracy and counterfeiting on a commercial scale. The draft legislation will not deal with the downloading of music for private use.
The draft legislation will enable the 25 EU countries to combat piracy and counterfeiting by means of a single set of sanctions. Different penalties in the 25 countries have complicated this objective in the past. Under the new legislation, EU countries could be brought to court for failing to implement the common sanctions.
The recommended provisions include that offences should be punishable by at least a 4 year prison sentence and a fine of at least 100,000 to 300,000 euros, with even higher fines when there is a health or safety risk. Other sanctions are likely to include the confiscation or destruction of infringing materials, and a permanent or temporary ban from all commercial activities.
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