INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

There are three ways in which copyright may be infringed under the Copyright Act: 

 

 

(i) there is an infringement of copyright where a person does or causes any other person to do, without a licence from the owner thereof, an act the doing of which is controlled by copyright, as specified above; 

 

 

(ii) copyright is infringed also by any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner, imports into Malta otherwise than for private and domestic use, or distributes therein by way of trade, hire or otherwise, or by way of trade exhibits in public or is in possession or manufactures in the course of business or offers or exposes for sale or hire an article in respect of which copyright is infringed under (i) above; 

 

 

(iii) a third way in which copyright is infringed is where a person, without the licence of the copyright owner, commits any of a number of actions listed down in the law which lead or amount to the circumvention of an effective technological measure or an electronic rights-management information. 

 

 

A person who is deemed to have infringed copyright by a Court shall be liable to the payment of damages or to the payment of a fine and to the restitution of all the profit derived from the infringement of the copyright. The infringing articles in possession of the defendant may, on application, be also delivered to the plaintiff. 

 

 

Criminal Sanctions for Infringement of Copyright 

 

 

In 1991, through an amendment to the Criminal Code (Chapter 9 of The Laws of Malta), Parliament introduced criminal penalties for the violation of copyright. Thus, whoever, for gain, or by way of trade prints, manufactures, duplicates or otherwise reproduces or copies, or sells, distributes or otherwise offers for sale or distribution, any article or other thing in violation of the rights of copyright enjoyed by an other person and protected by Maltese law is liable to criminal sanction for violation of copyright. Criminal penalties for violation of copyright include fines of up to EUR11,646.87 and/or to imprisonment of up to 1 year. Moreover, if found guilty of having violated copyright, a person’s licence to keep a retail shop will be deemed to have automatically expired upon such contravention and shall not be transferred or renewed in terms of the Police Licences (Protection of Copyright) Regulations 1992.