The recent modification of the Criminal Code, on the 31st of March 2015, has introduced significant changes in the regulation of the Intellectual Property regulation. The aim is to protect the intellectual rights and to strengthen the legal consequences in case of violation.
Among others, the most important changes are the following ones:
- A general clause has been added to the previous list of typified conducts in order to extend the sphere of application: “or the one who operates economically in any other way, total or partially”. In addition, new conducts are expressly typified, e.g. providing an access on the net to legally protected contents without permission of the rights’ owners.
- The concept of “profit motive” is extended, becoming sufficient the aim to obtain direct or indirect economic profits.
- The penalties stablished for each modality of the Intellectual Property Offences have been increased.
However, the legislator goes on trying to maintain the balance between the Intellectual Property Right and the right that comes from the legitimate use of the new information and communication technologies.