22/03/2007

The Judicial Commission of the European Parliament has approved the report on the proposed Directive of the European Commission that would introduce penal sanctions in the protection of intellectual property rights.

The Directive introduces numerous new legislative elements: the protection of rights directly and indirectly related to copyright; the introduction of minimum detention thresholds for more serious crimes; the recognition of broad powers of confiscation to judicial authorities; the institution of common transnational investigative teams; and the exclusion of legal persecution of those acts carried out by private users for personal and non-lucrative purposes.

The report will now pass to the plenary session of the European Parliament, which in April will be asked to approve the proposed Directive and send it on to the EU Council.

For report drafter Nicola Zingaretti (PSE), "This is the first proposed Directive of the European Union that intervenes in the penal code of the Member States. It is a very important step towards effecting a single European market and is significant in that it creates a very advanced balancing point between repressing the crime of selling imitation products that is carried on a commercial scale, protecting consumers and offering guarantees for Internet users. It is an important instrument in defending the European manufacturing and ‘Made in’ industries against the invasion of imitation goods from Asian markets".

(Translated from Italian)