Officials at the American and European chambers of commerce in Taipei gave a thumbs up yesterday to radical changes in the Copyright Law (著作權法) that impose heavier penalties on violators, especially those involved with optical media products, but stressed the need for effective enforcement of the changes.
"This is something we have lobbied for [for] a long time," American Chamber of Commerce executive director Richard Vuylsteke told the Taipei Times yesterday. "It is a tremendous step in the right direction, and will be looked upon favorably by the US government and businesses alike."
Guy Wittich, CEO of the European Chamber of Commerce, said, "We very much welcome this news."
"The law is one thing, but the tough and effective enforcement of the law is just as important," he said.
The Legislative Yuan passed the revision -- which calls for a maximum seven-year jail term and fines of up to NT$8 million (US$230,548) for those who sell pirated optical media products -- yesterday, the officials said.
Also the penalty for non-commercial copyright violations has risen to a maximum of three years in prison and fines of up to NT$750,000 from the current NT$200,000.
Those who make and sell pirated goods face a higher fine of NT$2 million, compared with the current NT$300,000, in addition to a jail term of up to five years already stipulated, according to the revision.
From now on, copyright violators will be subject to public prosecution. In the past, complaints had to be filed by victims of the piracy, legislative officials said.
One legal expert described the change to public prosecution as significant.
"This will allow the government to make good on the stated intention to crack down on piracy -- if indeed they truly want to," said Steve Hanley, a lawyer with IPR specialists Winkler Partners (
Taiwan has been charged by its major trading partners, in particular the US, for failing to adopt effective measures to protect intellectual property rights (IPRs).
Last month, Taiwan was placed by the US Trade Representative for a third straight year on a special watch list of countries where IPRs were inadequately protected.
Washington has said Taiwan's current measures had not produced results and piracy and counterfeiting levels remained unacceptably high, especially in optical media products.
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