Italy: File-sharing to Become a Felony

The Italian Government adopted on March 22nd an urgent Act to award the Italian movie industry the usual financial aids. The act also included a disposition for the copyright enforcement with regard to on-line file-sharing of movies. The provision increased from 154 euro to 1500 euro the value of administrative pecuniary sanction for the illegal downloading and uploading of files containing protected material.

An urgent Act of the Government must be converted, within 60 days, into a Parliamentary act; otherwise the original act will become null and void. The process of conversion requires both the lower House and the Senate to adopt the same wording. The act of the Government can be amended during the process.

On April 22nd the Lower House (Camera dei Deputati) adopted the Act with small, but far-reaching, modifications. In particular, by changing the wording of a provision of the Italian Copyright Act (L. 633/1941), the Parliament decided illegal file-sharing to be a felony that can be sentenced up to 4 years in prison.
Previously, for an illegal reproduction of copyrighted material to be a felony, the commercial purpose of the wrongdoer was required. The amended provision requires the wrongdoer to gain profit from his/her act. According to the Italian case law, profit has a very broad meaning, including the savings for not buying a product. Indeed, whereas the commercial purpose is interpreted as a direct financial gain, profit is broadly intended as the utility connected to the consumption of a good.  

The amendment was adopted because, after removing the administrative sanctions originally included in the Governemnt Act and intended to protect the movie industry only, the Members of Parliament deemed necessary to accord a compensation to both the motion picture industry and the recording industry.
The day after the adoption of the amendment, everyone declared that the original intent was to lessen the sanctions, and that changing the commercial requirement with the broader notion of profit was actually a mistake.

Accordingly the administrative sanctions are gone, replaced by strong criminal penalties. File-sharers, even if not directly or indirectly involved in the commercialization of copyrighted materials, will receive the very same treatment previously reserved to persons engaged in illegal reproduction of protected materials at a commercial level.

The next step of the process of conversion requires the Senate to adopt the bill discussed and amended by the Lower House. Since the urgent Act will become null and void if not converted before May 22nd, the Senate cannot correct the "mistake", otherwise the lower House should have to discuss and adopt the bill once again.
A commission of the Senate thus approved a motion that asks the Government to adopt a new urgent act to modify the previously amended one.
In the meantime the entertainment industry is quite happy with the new wording of the Italian Copyright Act and not that eager to change it.

AndreaRossato

Copyright (C) 2004 AndreaRossato
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[commento di Oberon]
IMHO è da specificare che il decreto nella sua forma attuale NON riguarda solo i film, ma tutte le opere dell'ingegno.
Inoltre sono necessari riferimenti al paventato bollino su tutti i file considerati opere dell'ingegno (di cui ancora non si conosceranno i dettagli fino al decreto di attuazione, che non verrà mai redatto ;P) e all'aumento della tassazione su supporti vergini e masterizzatori, tassazione che andrebbe a rimpinzare la casse della SIAE come risarcimento per un supposto mancato guadagno.
Anche una trad in ing del decreto (almeno primo articolo), non sarebbe male.
[/commento di Oberon]