 Piracy
Most states have enacted laws to protect copyrighted materials, and
people who distribute and download copyrighted recordings without
permission are liable to face civil actions for damages and penalties
and/or criminal prosecution. For the most part, the criminal law is
only used for commercial piracy except where a non-commercial
distribution has a not-insignificant effect on the copyright owner's
business.
The theft of software, the copying of licensed software
without permission, and software counterfeiting are not only a matter
for the police but can also involve customs officers, agencies tasked
to protect consumers and/or IPR holders, and agencies responsible for
ensuring that advertising is not misleading.
- distributes, sells, or hires out unauthorized copies of CDs, VCDs, and DVDs;
- on a larger scale, distributes unauthorized copies as a commercial enterprise on the Internet;
- possesses unauthorized copies with a view to distributing, selling, or hiring these to other people;
- while not dealing commercially, distributes unauthorized copies on
such a scale as to have a measurable impact on the copyright owner's
business.
The penalties for these "copyright theft" offenses depend on the seriousness of the offenses.
Also note s24 Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 which
creates a range of offenses relating to the distribution of any device,
product, or component that is primarily designed, produced, or adapted
for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of
effective technological measures. When this is for non-commercial
purposes, it requires there to be a measurable effect on the rights
holder's business.
|
= Required
