We all hear that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but did you think there were places where they were this slow? According to this story over at Music Industry News, it takes as long as 9 years for a case to make it to court in Italy right now! So the Italian Lower Chamber got busy and has shortened the existing statute of limitations from 7 to 6.5 years. Presto! Hundreds of cases can be dismissed, reducing the giant backlog of cases dramatically, brilliant! However, not everyone is as delighted as the "alleged" defendants that are no longer in need of legal representation. The IFPI is making complaints about it, warning that hundreds of music pirates could be let off the hook, thereby undermining their efforts to stem piracy in the region.
IFPI, representing the music recording industry worldwide, warns that the bill is inconsistent with international rules on enforcement of intellectual property and will put Italy out of line with other developed countries. Italy has one of the highest rates of piracy in Europe, at 25% of the total music market. The bill, approved by the Italian Lower Chamber, will shorten the period after which criminal cases pending trial are automatically dismissed. The change, from seven and a half to six years, will affect the majority of all pending criminal cases brought by the music industry which can take up to nine years to go to trial. Of 471 cases pending in 2004, 382 will be dismissed and similar figures are expected for 2005. |
The IFPI music representative organization has called
upon the Italian Senate to reject the law when it comes up for final approval
next week. Any bets on what will happen? That's one backed up legal
system!
Source: Music Industry News
