EC To Unveil Enforcement Proposals For IP Piracy

The European Commission is to announce today tough new measures to clamp down on illegal copying of music, movies, and software within the European Union. The measures, contained in the EU Enforcement Directive, are designed to harmonize laws across the territory.

>"It introduces the principle of criminal offenses if the copying activities are seen as both serious and commercially profitable," says an EC spokesman. "This could, in dramatic cases, lead to jail sentences." Other measures could include the precautionary seizure of suspected offenders' bank accounts and evidence-gathering powers for judicial authorities.

The proposals, which must be confirmed by EU governments and the European Parliament, also apply to peer-to-peer downloading. However, in a blow to the entertainment industry, the proposed Directive does not oblige EU governments to establish unauthorized downloading as a crime, and it will put the onus on the copyright holder to prove injury.

The proposal follows recommendations to tackle counterfeit traffic issued under the World Trade Organization's agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). However, the EC says its proposals go far beyond the TRIPs accord with, among other things, measures that would establish rights for trade associations and collecting societies (as well as rights holders) to initiate legal proceedings; give judges the power to force pirates to disclose information in relation to the goods; publicize legal judgments in copyright cases; and withdraw, at the offender's expense, infringing goods put on the market.

The measures come 10 days after the EC proposed complementary rules to tackle counterfeit goods entering the EU by giving customs authorities greater search power (Bulletin, Jan. 21). The EC is due to announce in a few weeks separate guidelines on harmonizing fines imposed on pirates.