Directive introducing criminal sanctions for infringements of intellectual property backed by the Parliament01/06/07 / cata_european-union-news
Parliament largely approved in the first reading a proposal from the Commission to criminalize infringements of intellectual property rights and to set minimum levels of criminal sanctions across the EU. Members of the Legal Affairs' committee backed the overall aim of the Commission proposal, while amending some of its provisions.
They excluded patent rights from the scope of the Directive, and decided that criminal sanctions should only apply to those infringements deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage. Piracy committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes are therefore also excluded. The Directive aims to ensure that national judicial authorities will always be able to impose sufficiently serious penalties by setting out minimum levels for the upper limits on punishments imposed by national law. 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.