The Government is proposing a crackdown on copyright law violations and make it a criminal offense to watch movies and other protected content online when the source is obviously illegal.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the main rule is that a person surfing the web, will not be held responsible even though the material they are looking at, is illegally posted.
– But we are proposing an exception to this rule, so that in certain cases it will be illegal to stream intellectual property and other copyrighted content, Minister of Culture, Linda Hofstad Helleland, said.
– This might for example apply to a film that is illegally posted online when it is obvious that the content is in violation of copyright laws.
Use of illegal streaming services means that licensees does not get paid for what they have created. The new bill gives users incentives to use legal services instead, she continues.
In the draft it is stated that “Users who seek such illegal offers and are watching movies for free, although well aware that films are made available on the internet – and that the illegal service inflicts licensees loss, will likely be held responsible.”
The proposed new legislation will replace the current Copyright act of 1961, a law that according to the Government appears to be fragmented and difficult to access.
The new bill is designated to be both more technologically neutral and easily accessible. The desire is to strengthen the position of creative and performing artists.
At the same time it is emphasized that the EU is in the process of reforming the regulatory framework for copyright, and that there is reason to believe that this will have an impact on the new Norwegian Copyright Act as well.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
