This is the first case in Italy where a court has annulled administrative sanctions for online copyright infringement.
In early October, the First Civil Section of the Court of Viterbo overturned the €124,000 administrative fine imposed on the operator of a website accused of making copyrighted films and music available without the authorization of the rights holders.
The site was accused of having made available as many as 2,900 copyrighted files, with damages estimated by the Anti-Piracy Federations at 311 thousand euros.
The site in question is filmsenzalimiti.
The manager was charged with violating Article 174-bis, which provides for the application of a pecuniary administrative sanction for violations of the criminal provisions of Section II of Law 633 of 1944.
The law states that: “Without prejudice to any applicable criminal sanctions, violation of the provisions set forth in this section is punishable by an administrative fine equal to double the market price of the work or medium in question, but in any case no less than €103.00.”.
The Court held that the observations contained in the report of the judicial police officers, which contested the crime and administrative violation related to making the films available, could not in themselves constitute necessary evidence, in the absence of further evidence of the actual unlawfulness of the activity.
The prefecture, however, had deemed the site's profit-making activity and the quantification of the administrative offence proven.
The site manager, defended by the lawyers Fulvio Sarzana and Maria Sole Montagna of the Law Firm Rome Sarzana and Associates he therefore saw the maximum fine cancelled.
This is the second ruling in favour of the managers of the filmsenzalimiti website after the Rome Court had issued a criminal ruling of no case to answer against one of the managers of the website, defended by the same lawyer. Sarzana law firm.
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