The increasing number of Intellectual Property Infrigments (IPIs) in the UK is due to the increased number of infringements being committed every year. There are an estimated two hundred thousand copyright infringements recorded in the last twelve months. Of which, around sixty per cent were committed by people who did not own the intellectual property in question, and therefore the cost to the IP holders in terms of damage will be significantly less.
Copyright’s infringement is a form of Intellectual Property Infringement, which is an act that is done without a valid copyright in order to achieve a profit through a form of theft. It is illegal to copy an author’s written words or ideas without having obtained her or his permission. In addition, copyright infringement is illegal in the United Kingdom for any purpose whatsoever. The UK Intellectual Property Office also has a website that contains detailed information about all copyright infringement acts and offences.
Copyright infringements are a serious criminal offence that can have severe consequences for those involved. Any infringement, even if it is unintentional, can lead to a person being charged with an offence and has to pay a fine, has his/her name published on the public Register of Copyrights, or both. The penalties also include a possible jail sentence. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. If it can be proven that the infringement was done “for financial gain”, then that person may only be prosecuted in case the infringement is worth more than three hundred dollars or is in the course of any commercial activity.
