Naruszenie majątkowych praw autorskich

Under the provision of art.79(1) of the Polish Copyright Act, among the forms of redress available to a right holder whose rights have been infringed is the right to demand that the infringing party repair the inflicted damage by payment of double or, where the infringement is culpable, triple the amount of appropriate remuneration that would have been due as of the time it was claimed in exchange for the right holder’s consent for the use of the work. The Supreme Court held this provision to be of a punitive nature and that there is no connection between the culprit’s liability and the actual damage suffered by the right holder. Consequently, as the court stated, only the actual infringement of the protected right triggers the liability in question. This remedy is intended to provide the right holder with simpler and faster access to protection against and compensation for the infringement. In the authors’ view, the discussed judgment may be highly controversial, as the Polish Supreme Court seems to be disregarding the EU system of IP rights enforcement, primarily established by Directive 2004/48 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (the Enforcement Directive). The Supreme Court seems also to disregard the premises establishing civil liability of the perpetrator.