Article 66: Criminal Sanctions

(1) Any person who, in contravention of the provisions of this law or of the provisions of lawfully ratified multilateral international conventions on the protection of copyright, unlawfully makes a fixation of a work or of copies, reproduces them directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently in any form, in whole or in part, translates, adapts, alters or transforms them, or distributes them to the public by sale or other means, or possesses with the intent of distributing them, rents, performs in public, broadcasts by radio or television or any other means, communicates to the public works or copies by any means, imports copies of a work illegally produced abroad without the consent of the author and, in general, exploits works, reproductions or copies being the object of copyright or acts against the moral right of the author to decide freely on the publication and the presentation of his work to the public without additions or deletions, shall be liable to imprisonment of no less than a year and to a fine from 2.900-15.000 Euro.

(2) The sanctions listed above shall be applicable to any person who, in contravention of the provisions of this law, or of the provisions of lawfully ratified multilateral international conventions on the protection of related rights, makes the following actions:

A) Without the permission of the performers: a) fixes their performance, b) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, the fixation of their performance c) distributes to the public the fixation of their performance or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, d) rents the fixation of their performance, e) broadcasts by radio and television by any means, the live performance, unless such broadcasting is rebroadcasting of a legitimate broadcasting, f) communicates to the public the live performance made by any means, except radio and television broadcasting, g) makes available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, the fixation of their performance.

B) Without the permission of phonogram producers (producers of sound recordings): a) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, their phonograms, b) distributes to the public the above recordings, or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, c) rents the said recordings, d) makes available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, their phonograms, e) imports the said recordings produced abroad without their consent.

C) Without the permission of producers of audiovisual works (producers of visual or sound and visual recordings) a) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, the original and the copies of their films, b) distributes to the public the above recordings, including the copies thereof, or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, c) rents the said recordings, d) makes available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, the original and the copies of their films e) imports the said recordings produced abroad without their consent f) broadcasts by radio or television by any means including satellite transmission and cable retransmission, as well as the communication to the public

D) Without the permission of radio and television organizations: a) rebroadcasts their broadcasts by any means, b) presents their broadcasts to the public in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee, c) fixes their broadcasts on sound or sound and visual recordings, regardless of whether the broadcasts are transmitted by wire or by the air, including by cable or satellite d) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, the fixation of their broadcasts, e) distributes to the public the recordings containing the fixation or their broadcasts, f) rents the recordings containing the fixation of their broadcasts, g) makes available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, the fixation of their broadcasts.

(3) If the financial gain sought or the damage caused by the perpetration of an act listed in paragraphs (1) and (2), above, is particularly great, the sanction shall be not less than two years imprisonment and a fine of from 2 to 10 million drachmas. If the guilty party has perpetrated any of the aforementioned acts by profession or at a commercial scale or if the circumstances in connection with the perpetration of the act indicate that the guilty party poses a serious threat to the protection of copyright or related rights, the sanction shall be imprisonment of up to ten (10) years and a fine of from 5 to 10 million drachmas, together with the withdrawal of the trading license of the undertaking which has served as the vehicle for the act. The act shall be likewise deemed to have been perpetrated by way of standard practice if the guilty party has on a previous occasion been convicted of a contravention pursuant to the provisions of the Article or for a violation of the preceding copyright legislation and sentenced to a non-redeemable period of imprisonment.

Any infringement of copyright and related rights in the form of felony is tried by the competent Three-member Court of Appeal for Felonies.

(4) Any person who did not pay the remuneration provided for by Article 18, paragraph (3) hereof to a collecting society is punished with the sanction of paragraph (1), (2) and (3).

The same sentence is imposed on the debtor who, after the issuance of the decision of the one-member first instance court, does not submit the declaration under the provisions of article 18, par. 6, of this law.

(5) The sanctions specified in paragraph (1), above, shall be applicable likewise to any person who:

a) uses or distributes, or possesses with the intent to distribute, any system or means whose sole purpose is to facilitate the unpermitted removal or neutralization of a technical system used to protect a computer program;

b) manufactures or imports or distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, equipment and other materials utilizable for the reproduction of a work which do not conform to the specifications determined pursuant to Article 59 of this Law;

c) manufactures or imports or distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, objects which can thwart the efficacy of the above-mentioned specifications, or engages in an act which can have that result;

d) reproduces or uses a work without utilizing the equipment or without applying the systems specified pursuant to Article 60 of this Law;

e) distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, a phonogram or film without the special mark or control label specified pursuant to Article 61 of this Law.

(6) Where a sentence of imprisonment is imposed with the option of redeemability, the sum payable for the redemption shall be 10 times the sum specified as per the case in the Penal Code.

(7) Where mitigating circumstances exist, the fine imposed shall not be less than half of the minimum fine imposable as per the case under this Law.

(8) Any person who proceeds to authorized temporary or permanent reproduction of the database, translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration of the database, distribution to the public of the database or of copies thereof, communication, display or performance of the database to the public, is punished by imprisonment of at least one (1) year and a fine of one (1) to five (5) million drachmas.

(9) Any person who proceeds to extraction and/or re-utilization of the whole or of a substantial part of the contents of the database without the authorization of the author thereof, is punished by imprisonment of at least one (1) year and a fine of one (1) to five (5) million drachmas (article 12 of Directive 96/9).

(10) When the object of the infringement refers to computer software, the culpable character of the action, as described in paragraph 1 of article 65A and under the prerequisites provided there, is raised under the condition that the infringer proceeds in the unreserved payment of the administrative fee and the infringement concerns a quantity of up to 50 programs.

(11) When the object of infringement concerns recordings of sound in which a work protected by copyright law has been recorded, the unreserved payment of an administrative fee according to the stipulation of par.2 of article 65A and under the prerequisites provided there, the culpable character of the action is raised under the condition that the infringement concerns a quantity of up to five hundred (500) illegal sound recording carriers.

(12) The payment of the administrative fee and the raising of the culpable character of the action, do not relieve the infringers from the duty of buying off the copyright and related rights or from the duty of compensating and paying the rest expenses to the holders of these rights, according to the provisions of the relevant laws.

(13) In case of recidivism during the same financial year the administrative fee provided for by article 65A doubles.

Article 66A: Technological Measures

(1) The term technological measures means any technology, device or component that, in the normal course of its operation, is designed to prevent or restrict acts, in respect of works or other subject-matter, which are not authorized by the rightholder of any copyright or any right related to copyright as well as the sui generis right of the data base maker. Technological measures shall be deemed effective where the use of a protected work or other subject-matter is controlled by the rightholders through application of an access control or protection process, such as encryption, scrambling or other transformation of the work or other subject-matter or a copy control mechanism, which achieves the protection objective.

(2) It is prohibited to circumvent, without the permission of the rightholder, any effective technological measure when such act is made in the knowledge or with reasonable grounds to know that he is pursuing that objective.

(3) It is prohibited without the permission of the rightholder, to engage in the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, rental, advertisement for sale or rental, or possession for commercial purposes of devices, products or components or the provision of services which: a) are promoted, advertised or marketed for the purpose of circumvention of, or b) have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent, or c) are primarily designed, produced, adapted or performed for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the circumvention of any effective technological measures.

(4) The practice of activities in violation of the above provisions is punished by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of 2.900 to 15.000 Euro and entails the civil sanctions of article 65 Law 2121/1993. The One-Member First Instance Court may order an injunction in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure, the provision of article 64 Law 2121/1993 also being applicable.

(5) Notwithstanding the legal protection provided for in par. 2 of this article, as it concerns the limitations (exceptions) provided for in Section IV of law 2121/1993, as exists, related to reproduction for private use on paper or any similar medium (article 18), reproduction for teaching purposes (article 21), reproduction by libraries and archives (article 22), reproduction for judicial or administrative purposes (article 24), as well as the use for the benefit of people with disability (article 28A), the rightholders should have the obligation to give to the beneficiaries the measures to ensure the benefit of the exception to the extent necessary and where that beneficiaries have legal access to the protected work or subject-matter concerned. If the rightholders do not take voluntary measures including agreements between rightholders and third parties benefiting from the exception, the rightholders and third parties benefiting from the exception may request the assistance of one or more mediators selected from the list of mediators drawn up by the Copyright Organization. The mediators make recommendations to the parties. If no party objects within one month from the forwarding of the recommendation, all parties are considered to have accepted the recommendation. Otherwise, the dispute is settled by the Court of Appeal of Athens trying at first and last instance. These provisions shall not apply to works or other subject-matter available to the public on agreed contractual terms in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.

Article 66B: Rights - Management Information

(1) The expression rights management information means any information provided by rightholders which identifies the work or other subject-matter protected by a related right or the sui generis right of data base maker, and which identifies the author or any other rightholder, or information about the terms and conditions of use of the work or other subject-matter, and any numbers or codes that represent such information.

(2) It is prohibited for any person to knowingly perform without the permission of the rightholder any of the following acts: a) the removal or alteration of any electronic rights-management information, b) the distribution, importation for distribution, broadcasting, communication or making available to the public of works or other subject-matter protected by a related right or the sui generis right of data base maker, from which electronic rights management information has been removed or altered without authority, if such person knows, or has reasonable grounds to know that by so doing he is inducing, enabling, facilitating or concealing an infringement of any copyright or related right or the sui generis right of data base maker.

(3) The violation of the above provisions is punished by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of 2.900 to 15.000 Euro and entails the civil sanctions of article 65 Law 2121/1993. The One-member First Instance Court may order an injunction in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure, the provision of article 64 Law 2121/1993 also being applicable.

Article 66C: Publication of Decisions

Decisions of civil or criminal courts concerning rights under this law may, at the request of the applicant and at the cost of the infringer, order the appropriate measures to be taken for the propagation of information relating to the decision, including the posting of the decision, as well as its publication, in summary or in its entirety, in the mass media or the internet.

Article 66D: Codes of Ethics and Information Exchange

(1) The business or professional associations concerned, as well as collecting societies or collective protection organizations, shall prepare codes of ethics with the purpose of contributing, at national, Community or global level, to the enforcement of the rights under this law and shall recommend the use of codes in optical discs in order to identify the origin of their manufacture. The codes of ethics and any evaluation of their implementation shall be forwarded to the European Commission.