Criminal remedies for copyright infringement

rdf:langString Criminal remedies for copyright infringement

rdf:langString Remedies for copyright infringement in the United States can be either civil or criminal in nature. Criminal remedies for copyright infringement prevent the unauthorized use of copyrighted works by defining certain violations of copyright to be criminal wrongs which are liable to be prosecuted and punished by the state. Unlike civil remedies, which are obtained through private civil actions initiated by the owner of the copyright, criminal remedies are secured by the state which prosecutes the infringing individual or organisation. The criminal penalties imposed for copyright infringement vary between the copyright laws of different jurisdictions. However, the justifications for the imposition of criminal penalties are common in the sense that certain kinds of copyright violations are considered as egregious enough to warrant state interference. These kinds of copyright violations are seen as having a negative consequence affecting the entire community. A criminal conviction for copyright infringement is also more punitive compared to a civil penalty and this increases the value of the punishment as a deterrent to prevent such violations in the future. For these reasons, criminal penalties for copyright infringement are considered to be effective sanctions against violations. Internationally, Article 61 of the TRIPS Agreement requires member nations to provide for criminal procedures and penalties "at least in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale". In addition to the coming into force of the TRIPS Agreement, the rapid development of computer software during the 1990s led to a significant expansion in the degree and imposition of criminal penalties for copyright infringement, especially in the decades towards the end of the 20th century. The scope for copyright infringement of electronic material has proliferated following the advent of the Internet and this has become an underpinning reason for calls by copyright owners to increase reliance on criminal penalties which have a deterrent effect. Nevertheless, there have also been arguments by scholars for reducing the severity of criminal copyright infringement penalties since such penalties could result in monopolistic profits for the copyright owner.