A few days ago, The Court of Appeal in The Hague issued a ruling, Dismissed a claim for damages by a Dutch film producer that government officials had encouraged piracy. Therefore, Piracy by citizens based on statements made by government officials, The government accepts no responsibility.

In fact, Government officials' statements do indicate that downloading pirated movies and TV shows is permitted, Such actions were correct in the circumstances.

For a long time, The Netherlands has been a relatively safe haven for pirated consumers. According to government officials, Whatever the source, Downloading movies without permission is not punishable by law. The situation eventually becomes 2014 The year has changed, The European Court of Justice ruled that this overly lenient stance was incompatible with EU law. The Dutch government was quick to ban unauthorized downloads. Despite fundamental changes, But in fact, Piracy has not improved much.

What you can see is that, pass BT Sites sharing pirated material have been banned because they involve file uploads. Nor have copyright owners taken action against temporary file-sharers in court. The filmmakers are suing the Dutch government for not following up on the piracy, He pointed the finger at the Dutch government.

2015 years, Dutch Film Producers Association SEKAM A legal action was filed against the government, Ask the government to compensate them for the losses they have suffered because of piracy. The filmmakers highlighted previous official statements by the government, These statements explicitly allow downloading of pirated material. The announcements came before the government banned downloads.

One of the statements was by former National Security and Justice Minister Fred R．Tevin (Fred Teeven) in 2010 In a press release in 2005. In looking at the future of policy, He pointed out that "Downloading copyrighted works from clearly illegal sources would be illegal, But there will be no punishment. "

Hague court: The Dutch government is responsible for piracy 2018 years, The court in The Hague ruled partly in favor of the filmmakers. Court order, These statements do confirm that downloading pirated material is allowed, And the Dutch government should be liable for the damage caused.

The court wrote: "This message is expressed by government officials in the public sphere and in the media, Therefore, There will be some downloaders who think downloading from illegal sources is permissible, This is usually banned in other EU member states. " The Dutch government is unhappy with the conclusion, And filed an appeal. The Dutch government won. The appeals court in The Hague said in its latest ruling, The government is not abetting piracy, Therefore, it is not liable for any damages.

Court of appeal: The Court of Appeal agreed that the government's official message did show that downloading pirated material was not illegal. This is normal, Because that was the government's view at the time. The court of appeal held that, These statements are factually correct. Although the European Court of Justice later ruled that such a policy violated EU law, But EU law was not known at the time of the announcement.

In addition, Unlike the lower court, The appeals court did not find that the remarks encouraged anyone to pirate. contrary, In the same press release, Such piracy will be outlawed in the future. The ruling read: "non-weighing 2010 The announcement in 2005 prompted people to download illegally, Especially considering that the government has since 2002 The idea that downloading from illegal sources has been encouraged for years is wrong. "

The Hague appeals court added: "Therefore, for SEKAM For such a right holder, These statements did not have the adverse impact they predicted. " For the Dutch government, This is clearly a victory, The government does not have to pay any damages for wear and tear caused by piracy because of past statements.

SEKAM You don't have to pay anything. According to law blog IPKAT display, If the Motion Picture Producers Guild agrees not to contest the appeal, The Dutch government agreed not to require it to pay legal costs.

(Compiled from torrentfreak. com)

Reprinted from China Intellectual Property Network   translation: Wang Dan　proofread: Rason group

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