Chamber approves bill that punishes copyright violation with up to 4 years in prison!

The Chamber of Deputies approved on Thursday bill number 2681 of 1996 to combat piracy. It gives new wording to paragraphs 1 and 3 of art. 184 and to art. 186 of Decree-Law no. 2.848, of December 7, 1940 of the Penal Code, and adds paragraphs to art. 525 of Decree-Law no. 3.689, of October 3, 1941 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The bill provides for prison sentences of two to four years, plus a fine, for those who violate Copyright, in addition to the confiscation of all copied material and the equipment used to make the copies. The bill refers to the illegal reproduction of music, videos, books, works of art, computer programs and also includes any type of copyright violation carried out through the Internet - peer-to-peer networks, such as Kazaa and Gnutella, for example.

However, the bill applies only to piracy for commercial purposes. Individual copies of material protected by Copyright are not classified as a crime. The bill now goes to the Federal Senate, and,
if approved, will become law after being published in the Official Gazette.