13/01/2010

After several weeks of intense controversy, the Government has finished drawing up the Sustainable Economy Law, in which Culture Minister Ángeles González-Sinde has introduced a series of measures for the fight against piracy. The draft bill has been approved and sent to the advisory bodies.

The said measures, which aim to fight against the violation of intellectual property rights on the Internet, call for proceedings to be mixed (administrative and judicial) and speedy (within a period of four days).

Therefore, according to the Culture Minister, if a work is distributed illegally on the Internet, the Intellectual Property Commission, which is dependent on the Culture Ministry, will issue a decision for withdrawal of the content from the web and, in more serious cases, an Internet block.

However, this decision will not take effect until the courts have issued a judgement. They will have a period of four days to check that the decision does not violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Constitution.

According to González-Sinde, "it is a matter of eradicating the illegal practices of companies and websites that make money and profit from other people’s work". She said that "no Internet users should be concerned or worried", as "freedom of expression and information on the Internet will be guaranteed".

FAPAE, which represents Spanish audiovisual producers, has expressed its satisfaction at these measures, which it considers “essential”, as “it will put us on a level with the rest of the world and promote a legal market”.

Although we don’t yet know whether the text will be ratified by the competent authorities, it has at least given rise to a debate which, despite its bitterness, has helped improve public understanding of the problem. And, in a country like Spain, which has one of the worst piracy records, this represents a vital step.