By Cristiane Crelier, Gazeta Mercantil - 04/07/2005

 

Rio, 4th of July 2005 - Banking specialized in industrial property invests in the penal sector to preserve clients. The recent 2005 Commercial Piracy Report for the music industry, released in Spain by the IFPI, points to an illegal global music market that captures about $ 4,6 billion. The study also reveals some effectiveness in the actions of some governments, resulting in a reduction in piracy. Piracy, however, reaches many more markets, many more sectors and many more companies. And companies, in turn, are tired of seeing their brands being harmed and their goods copied and counterfeited. Some offices specializing in intellectual and industrial property are investing in the criminal sector as a way to preserve their clients.

 

"Criminal measures are more efficient than civil ones, even to serve as an example and keep fraudsters out," says lawyer Luis Fernando Matos, of the Matos & Associados office, who is implementing a criminal law sector. According to Matos, the company that asks for the arrest of people who commit crimes against their brands, is passed over by criminals the moment they start planning the fraud.

 

Lawyer Afonso Destri, a specialist in criminal law at Destri Advocacia, emphasizes that crimes against property are more valued by Brazilian law than crimes against people. He points out, however, that the possibility of imprisonment has a greater moral effect and, especially in the case of piracy, it is often more effective - even with light sentences.

 

“It is quite true that, in the Brazilian Penal Code, the penalty for theft, for example, is four to ten years in prison, while the penalty for intentional bodily injury is three months to one year; and even if the injury has permanent physical consequences for the victim of the predicted sentence (two to five years) it is still less than that of the theft, ”explains lawyer Afonso Destri. “However, people are more afraid of being arrested. In addition, the problem with civil laws is that, even if convictions with very high values ​​are obtained in court, the decision will be ineffective if the fraudster company's share capital is low - and that is usually the case ”, comments Destri.

 

The lawyers also talk about the importance, in this case, of the approval of the bill that is being processed in Congress for the increase of prison sentences for crimes of that order. "The crimes with the least offensive potential - those with sentences of up to two years in prison - are judged by the Special Criminal Court, which ends up benefiting offenders," says Afonso Destri. “Special courts usually make early penalty agreements and, sometimes, offenders end up punishing a simple payment of a basic basket”, he comments. “Crimes against intellectual and industrial property should not be considered of low offensive potential, because they affect all the assets, history and workers of the companies”, adds Afonso Destri.

 

Report

 

According to the record industry report, 1,2 billion pirated CDs were sold last year - 34% of legal sales worldwide. However, the annual growth of disk piracy would have fallen to the lowest level in the past five years, "in part due to law enforcement work in countries like Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, Paraguay and Spain".

 

In the last year, record numbers of pirated products were seized, while the seizure of CD recording equipment was double that of 2003. In Brazil, according to the report, the piracy rate is 52%. Despite a partial recovery of the Brazilian market in 2004, sales of pirated units exceed those of legitimate sales, according to ABPD, which represents the national music industry.

 

kicker: Lawyer points out that crimes against property are more valued by Brazilian law than crimes against people.