France ramps up online piracy fight

Fleur Pellerin, France’s Minister of Culture and Communication, has presented the Government’s strategy on the battle against online piracy.

Going beyond the graduated ‘three strikes’ response of the HADOPI law, the Government is implementing a plan of action against streaming, download or search engine optimisation sites which profit from pirated works, which includes the following measures:

• The drying up of funding for sites specialising in infringement of works on the Internet. A charter bringing together advertising industry players and the representatives of rights holders will be signed on 23 March at the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Negotiations will then be open until June 2015 for signature by online payment sector players.
• The use of interlocutory procedures, interim from time to time, relating to a simple query or joint application in judicial remedy to monitor over time the effectiveness of the measures, including blocking imposed on technical intermediaries. The opportunity will also be taken by the end of June to remind Attorneys General of the importance of regional centralisation of legal action in the most complex infringement cases.

Interdepartmental coordination of the activities of all operational services on issues related to pirated works will be organised. The Ministry of the Interior will assume responsibility of the executive subcommittee of the fight against cybercrime. Monitoring reports on the Pharos platform will also be strengthened.

The Government is also taking action in the fight against illegal financial channels. It will draw on all the tax implications of these activities.

Finally an assessment of the responsibility of certain video sharing platforms that not only host but also provide a role in the distribution of works will be carried out. This assessment will result in reporting illegal content procedures, removal and monitoring, more efficient, simple and accessible to rights holders.

The Government will also ensure that, in the European debate on copyright modernisation, effective solutions for prevention and suppression of piracy are defined, which impact on digital sector players.