Global Online Piracy Study Legal Background Report

This legal report is based on desk research and the analysis of questionnaires completed by legal experts in thirteen countries, including seven European Union (EU) member states (France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom), two American countries (Brazil and Canada), and four Asian countries (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand). The questionnaire concerns the legal status of online copyright infringement and enforcement under “national law”, a term that includes statute and case law. The questions concern two interrelated aspects: (1) substantive legal rules and (2) enforcement measures, procedures, remedies and sanctions.