Enforcement Directive welcomed as a first step in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting

European Parliament adopts law on civil tools to combat piracy

Strasbourg, 9th March 2004

The creative sector welcomed a vote by the European Parliament today adopting an Enforcement Directive designed to improve tools for fighting piracy and counterfeiting in the European Union. An improvement of the means required to enforce intellectual property rights in EU Member States is urgently needed and with today's vote, the European Parliament has taken a first step towards combating the massive scale of piracy and counterfeiting in the Community.

Piracy is seriously undermining European culture and business, costing tens of thousands of jobs, depriving governments of billions of Euros in lost tax revenues and ultimately reducing consumer choice. In Europe, film, video, music, business and leisure software and publishing industries suffer billions of Euros in losses annually. Europe cannot compete as a knowledge-based economy if its creative sector is plagued with this illegal activity. The Enforcement Directive provides a uniform level of protection in an EU that encompasses 25 Member States. This Directive harmonises some of the best practice civil enforcement measures available at national level and makes them available Europe-wide.

Organisations from the creative sector working together in an Anti-Piracy Coalition expressed regret that the Directive does not harmonise criminal penalties, despite support from the Commission and the Parliament for criminal measures in the Directive. Creative industries will continue to press for criminal sanctions at EU level and call on the institutions to address this issue urgently. Pirates often use relatively easy profits from piracy to fund other criminal activity such as arms trafficking and drug dealing. International and European police agencies, Interpol and Europol, have recognised the links between piracy and organised crime.

The creative sector also saluted the European Parliament for recognising the seriousness of piracy and counterfeiting in the EU. Members of the European Parliament have been consistent in their commitment to tackling this problem and adopted a Declaration on the Fight Against Piracy and Counterfeiting in the Enlarged EU (June 2003). This Declaration, which was signed by a large number of MEPs, called for concerted action against the alarming levels of piracy in Europe.

BSA - Business Software Alliance
Shona Jago
79 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RB
+44 207 245 0304

EPC - European Publishers Council
Angela Mills Wade
Avenue Livingstone 26
B-1000 Brussels
+ 32 2 231 12 99

EFCA - European Film Companies Alliance
Philippe Kern
Rue du Trône 51
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 289 26 04

ENPA - the European Newspaper Publishers' Association
Dietmar Wolff
Rue des Pierres, 29, boîte 8
B-1000 Bruxelles
+ 32 2 551 01 90

FEP - Federation of European Publishers
Mechtild von Alemann, Anne Bergman-Tahon
Avenue de Tervuren 204
B-1150 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 770 11 10

FERA/AIDAA - Federation of European Film Directors/ International Association of AV Writers and Directors
Joao Correa, Cécile Despringe
83, Rue du Prince Royal
1050 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 551 03 50

FIAPF - International Association of Film Producers Associations
Bertrand Moullier, Valérie Lepine
9 rue de l'Echelle
75001 Paris, France
+33 1 44 77 97 50

GESAC - European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers
Véronique Desbrosses, Isabelle Prost
Rue Montoyer 23
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 511 44 54

ICMP/CIEM - International Confederation of Music Publishers
Jenny Vacher-Desvernais
47 rue de Turbigo
75003 Paris, France
+33 1 42 72 38 99

IFPI - International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
Francine Cunningham
Square de Meeûs 19
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 511 92 08

IMPALA - Independent Music Companies Association
Philippe Kern
Rue de Trône 51
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
+ 32 2 289 26 04

ISFE - Interactive Software Federation of Europe
Patrick Chazerand, Antoine Aubert, David Sweeney
Avenue des Arts 38
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 513 88 16

IVF - International Video Federation
Charlotte Lund Thomsen
Avenue des Arts 38
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 503 40 63

MPA - Motion Picture Association
Dara MacGreevy, Thomas Dillon
Rue du Trône 108
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 778 27 11