Greece Expands Piracy Penalties to End Users
Greece will now impose penalties on end users of pirated audiovisual content, following a Joint Ministerial Decision signed by the culture and finance ministries. The decision implements a recently passed law aiming to curb copyright infringement, CE Report quotes Athens-Macedonia
The new rules, soon to be published in the Government Gazette, classify the use of pirate services as a criminal offense, punishable by at least one year in prison and fines starting at €2,900. Administrative fines will also apply: €750 for end users, €1,500 for distributors, and €5,000 in cases involving commercial exploitation. Repeat offenders face doubled penalties.
However, criminal charges can be dropped if the offender pays double the fine amount.
The legislation targets a piracy problem that reportedly costs Greece over €400 million annually in GDP losses, 5,000 jobs, and €59 million in lost tax revenue.
