

United Kingdom Copyright infringement: Criminal Offence Punishment: Up to 10-years in prison and an unlimited fine We can't realistically cover copyright laws in every country, but some more interesting examples are discussed below. they exist, and copyright infringement is treated as a civil offense).īut there is often little political will to uphold such laws, resulting in copyright holders concentrating their enforcement efforts on more lucrative markets where (often very expensive) legal action is likely to be successful and to be profitable for the copyright holder. Outside of Europe and North America, most copyright laws are in line with international norms (i.e. This means that, in addition to being ordered to pay civil damages, offenders may face criminal prosecution. In some places (notably the UK), copyright infringement is a criminal offense. This can be ruinously expensive for those unfortunate enough to be made an example of in this way but does not result in a criminal conviction. This means that copyright owners can take offenders to court in order to obtain civil damages against them for loss of income.

In most countries, copyright infringement for purely personal use (such as most torrenting) is a civil offense.
