US embassy cable - 05ATHENS529

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 000529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EB/IPE SWILSON 
DEPT. PLS PASS TO USTR JCHOSE-GROVES 
DOC FOR JBOGER 
USPTO FOR JURBAN 
LOC FOR STEPP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, GR, KIPR 
SUBJECT: IPR UPDATE -- GREECE 
 
REF: A. STATE 24592 
     B. STATE 30790 
 
 SUMMARY 
------- 
1.  (U) Post does not object to Greece's inclusion on the 
special mention list, but does not believe the IPR problems 
merit inclusion on any higher level of the Special 301 list. 
The Greek Government continues its efforts to protect 
intellectual property and fight piracy.  Existing national 
legislation was bolstered with the ratification by parliament 
of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and 
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), and Greece is in full compliance 
with all EU IPR directives.  The primary concern, however, is 
that despite a range of tough laws, courts are too lenient in 
their treatment of IPR violators.  While television piracy is 
down significantly, piracy of audio-visual works, business 
software and video games remain problems. END SUMMARY 
 
BACKGROUND AND IP CLIMATE 
------------------------- 
2.  (U) Intellectual property problems have long plagued 
Greece, resulting in its being identified for special 
mention, although not inclusion, on the Special 301 Watch 
List this year.  Greece was listed as a Special 301 country 
in 1994, but as a result of the Greek Government's 
significant progress in protecting intellectual property 
rights and in fighting piracy, it was removed in 2003. 
 
3.  (U) In September 2002, the GOG became the first EU 
country to implement the European Copyright Directive 
(2001/29/EC), thus harmonizing Greek law with the content of 
the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and 
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). Furthermore, in September 2003, the 
Greek Parliament ratified the WIPO Treaties (Greek law 
3184/2003) thus incorporating the treaties into national law. 
 As pursuant to the Greek Constitution, an international 
convention ratified by the parliament cannot be modified by 
future legislation or other government decrees.  The 
government is about to amend Greece,s main IPR protection 
law (2121/1993) by incorporating EU Directives 48/2004 
(Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights) and 84/2001 
(Paintings surveillance rights), both due for implementation 
by early 2006 (4/1/2006 and 1/1/2006 respectively). 
 
4.  (U) Despite these legislative efforts piracy does 
continue, however.  The music and software industries bear 
the brunt of IPR violations in Greece, although audiovisual 
piracy also occurs.  Unlicensed sharing of a licensed copy 
among multiple computers is the largest problem for the 
software industry.  For optical media piracy, Greece is not 
believed to be the source of the majority of pirated CDs, 
VCDs, and DVDs being sold in the country, but rather a link 
in the chain of an increasingly regional copying and 
distribution network.  Hard figures on the levels of piracy 
in Greece is difficult to obtain, and widely cited figures 
are often little better than educated guesses.  The GoG does 
not maintain official statistics on piracy. 
 
5.  (U) According to the Greek office of the Motion Picture 
Association, EPOE, television piracy has fallen from 70 
percent of all broadcasts a decade ago to less than 2 percent 
today.  However, the piracy rate for optical media remains 
between 10-20 percent of the market.  The sight of immigrants 
selling copied CDs and DVDs on street corners and cafes in 
most major cities is commonplace.  The local representative 
of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries 
(IFPI) estimates that 1 in 3 CDs sold in Greece is pirated 
(the greater part of pirated music product offered for sale 
seems to be work by Greek pop singers).  Although the 
Business Software Alliance (BSA) has publicly acknowledged 
the GOG's achievements in combating software piracy in 2002, 
BSA Hellas notes that Greece still has the highest rate of 
software piracy in the EU, estimated at 63 percent of the 
programs sold. 
 
Enforcement remains problematic 
------------------------------- 
6.  (U) The GoG remains concerned about piracy issues, but as 
a relatively poor EU nation, Greece does not always have the 
resources available to effectively police its IPR 
legislation.  Additionally, as a country that does not rely 
heavily on IPR protection for its own products, it lacks a 
fully-developed comprehension of the economic impact of 
piracy.  Understanding of IPR issues among the population as 
a whole is low.  Despite legislation that provides for heavy 
civil and criminal penalties against pirates, enforcement 
remains spotty.  Getting an IPR violator sanctioned, 
criminally or civilly, in any meaningful way is still 
time-consuming and difficult.  The courts continue to treat 
IPR violations as nuisance crimes and almost never hand out 
punishment severe enough to act as a deterrent. 
7.  (U) Greece's Intellectual Property Organization (OPI), 
which is responsible for drafting Greece's copyright laws, 
continues to push for more stringent anti-piracy efforts, 
especially in educating the Greek population about what 
constitutes piracy and the economic costs that piracy incurs. 
 It hopes to be allowed to introduce short 
IPR-familiarization courses in middle schools, alongside 
introductory computer education courses.  OPI is also 
attempting to get IPR courses made mandatory for judges and 
police cadets, in an effort to promote understanding of IPR 
as a first step in increased enforcement. 
 
COMMENTS ON INDUSTRY SUBMISSION 
------------------------------- 
8.  (U) Business Software:  Post has no additional 
information regarding industry submission. 
 
9. (U) Music Piracy:  Music piracy is clearly a vibrant, 
going concern in Greece.  Any visitor to central Athens will 
receive multiple offers to buy pirated CDs from roving 
individuals.  Direct law enforcement control of these 
individuals engaging in piracy is low.  Furthermore, in the 
event that one of these vendors is arraigned in court, even 
repeat offenders often receive fines well below those 
established by law, or suspended jail terms without a fine. 
Public sympathy for these perpetrators who are &just trying 
to get by8 is high. 
 
9.  (U) However, Post questions the inclusion of claims 
regarding the nationality of the malfeasants, or their links 
to criminal syndicates.  These claims,  frequently repeated 
by the Greek media, local anti-piracy organizations, and even 
some GoG officials, have not been documented by law 
enforcement agencies.  In no case do they help combat the 
problem.  Also, the suggestion that piracy is the direct 
result of lax State enforcement of immigration policy has not 
been documented or brought to Post,s attention. 
 
10.  (U) Entertainment software piracy:  Post has no 
additional information regarding industry submission. 
 
11.  (U) Audiovisual piracy:  It is clear that audiovisual 
piracy is occurring in Greece, although at a level below that 
of music piracy.  Despite repeated requests to the industry 
and its local representatives, no figures or methodology for 
calculating industry losses have been provided to post. 
 
ONGOING AREAS OF REVIEW 
-------------------------------------- 
12.  (U) Optical Media Piracy:  Optical media piracy in 
Greece is a regional problem.  The direct production of 
pirated optical media is not believed to be widespread in 
Greece, but largely imported from Central/Eastern Europe and 
Asia.  Post has been unable to determine if Greece has a 
formal and consistent licensing policy for optical media 
manufacturing capacity, equipment, or material inputs. SID 
codes are visible on most locally manufactured CDs, however. 
 
13.  (U) Use/Procurement of Government Software: Although the 
absolute amount is believed to be on the decline, many 
government organs, including some ministries, are believed to 
illegally share computer software.  In many cases, this 
illegal sharing takes place as a result of ignorance of what 
constitutes piracy.  Although Greece has taken steps to 
combat this problem, the process of educating government 
users and enforcing licensing rules will take some time and 
the dedication of more resources than are currently 
available.  Greece does have a governmental circular in place 
(YAP/F.00/B/167/266), which specifically obligates all levels 
of the State Government to abide by all IPR laws and 
regulations, including software licensing agreements, and 
assigns responsibility for proper use of software to the 
Directors of Information Technology of each government agency. 
 
14.  (U) TRIPs Compliance: Greece is fully TRIPs compliant. 
 
15.  (U) Enforcement: As described earlier, Greece has a 
problem with enforcement of its IPR legislation.  Most of the 
enforcement difficulties are with the judicial branch, where 
judges do not receive any significant training regarding IPR 
issues either before or after the assumption of their duties. 
 Ill-informed on Greece,s legislation, or the economic 
impact of IPR violations, most judges are unwilling to impose 
fines they view as excessive against the low-level vendors of 
pirated or trade-mark infringed goods.  Although the GoG has 
the political will to combat piracy, it will need prodding to 
make the additional effort necessary to provide training for 
judges. 
RIES