European Parliament Passes Piracy Legislation

BRUSSELS, April 26: The European Parliament has passed legislation enacting criminal penalties—fines and jail time—against individuals who infringe on intellectual property rights for commercial gain.

The vote passed by 374 votes to 278, with 17 abstentions. The wide-ranging legislation, which must still be approved by national governments across the European Union, covers everything from pirated music and film to fake Viagra and imitation designer bags. Counterfeiting is said to cost EU manufacturers as much as 500 billion euros per year.

Under the new rules, large-scale producers of knock-off products would face up to four years in prison and up to 300,000 euros in fines. Maximum penalties for less serious infringements would include criminal and civil fines of at least 100,000 euros. Piracy committed by individuals for nonprofit purposes, such as individual online downloads, are not covered in the new legislation.

At present, the maximum fines for violating intellectual property rights range from ?586 in Greece to ?67,000 in Holland. Maximum prison sentences range from three months in Greece to 10 years in Britain.