Panamanian legislators
on Wednesday night passed a new Intellectual Property Protection Law, which would allow commerce
officials to impose fines of up to $100,000 for copyright infringements without
a trial or civil suit.
There is a
U.S.-Panama free trade agreement which was
approved last year and this piece
of legislation is meant to bring Panama
into compliance with the trade agreement. The legislation has yet to get the
Presidential assent.
As always, some civic groups and organizations
representing audio-visual artists and musicians are criticizing the measure,
saying it threatens free speech.
Other artists support the law, hoping it will cut down on pirated
versions of their works. Will this legislation prove to be a boon to the
artists who support it, only time will
tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment