Chapter III: Procedures and penalties

Infringement of the rights of the database producer may be proven by any means. To this end, any person entitled to act under this title shall be entitled to have any bailiffs, assisted by experts appointed by the plaintiff, carry out, upon an order made on request by the competent civil court, either a detailed description, with or without the taking of samples, of the media or products allegedly infringing…

The court may order, of its own motion or at the request of any person entitled to bring an infringement action, all legally permissible investigative measures, even if a seizure for infringement has not previously been ordered under the conditions provided for in article L. 343-1.

Any person having standing to act in the event of infringement of the rights of a database producer may apply to the competent civil court for summary proceedings in order to obtain an order, if necessary subject to a fine, against the alleged infringer or the intermediaries whose services he uses, for any urgent measure intended to prevent infringement of the rights of a database producer or to prevent the…

In addition to the reports of officers or agents of the judicial police, proof of the materiality of the infringements defined in this chapter may result from the findings of sworn agents appointed by the professional producers’ organisations. These agents are approved by the Minister for Culture under the same conditions as those laid down for the agents referred to in Article L. 331-2.

It is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros to infringe the rights of the producer of a database as defined in Article L. 342-1. Where the offence has been committed as part of an organised gang, the penalties are increased to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of €750,000. .

Natural persons guilty of any of the offences provided for in this Chapter may also be ordered, at their own expense, to remove from the channels of commerce the articles found to be infringing and any thing that served or was intended to serve in the commission of the offence. The court may order the destruction at the expense of the convicted person or the handing over to the injured…

Corporate entities held criminally liable, under the conditions provided for by Article 121-2 of the Penal Code, offences defined in this chapter shall incur, in addition to a fine in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 131-38 of the Penal Code, the penalties provided for by Article 131-39 of the same code. The prohibition mentioned in 2° of Article 131-39 of the same code relates to the activity…

In the event of a repeat offence of the offences defined in article L. 343-4 or if the offender is or has been bound to the injured party by an agreement, the penalties incurred shall be doubled. The offenders may, in addition, be deprived for a period not exceeding five years of the right to be elected and to stand for election to the commercial courts, the territorial chambers of…