Greece moves to penalize end-users of pirated audiovisual content

In a decisive step to curb digital piracy, the Greek government is extending penalties for the illegal use of pirated audiovisual content to include end-users, following the signing of a Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) by the Ministries of Culture and Finance earlier this week.

The JMD, expected to be published in the Government Gazette within days, enforces a newly adopted law and establishes a framework for imposing fines not only on content pirates who reproduce copyrighted material but also on individuals who consume such content illegally.

Under the new legal framework, end-users of pirated services could face criminal charges, including a minimum of one year in prison and fines starting at €2,900. The judicial process for these offenses has also been streamlined to ensure faster prosecution.

In addition to criminal penalties, the legislation introduces administrative fines for:

Individuals with unauthorized subscriptions,

Those who publicly stream or project protected content,

And parties that advertise pirated services or benefit from such advertisements.

Administrative penalties start at €750 for end-users, increase to €1,500 for those promoting piracy, and can reach €5,000 in cases involving commercial exploitation. Repeat offenders will see these fines doubled. However, criminal charges may be dropped if the offender pays double the assessed fine.

The government aims to address the ongoing issue of content piracy, which has inflicted significant economic losses. A recent study estimates that piracy costs the Greek economy over €400 million in GDP annually, results in the loss of more than 5,000 jobs, and leads to €59 million in lost tax revenue each year.

Officials hope that this legislation will serve as a deterrent and mark a turning point in the fight against digital content piracy in Greece.