Legal liability
Intellectual Property (IP) rights infringements can give rise to both civil and criminal law liability for a business and its officers, depending on a range of factors.
The risk of liability does not only arise in relation to the business' own activities or link directly to work undertaken by their employees, it can also arise indirectly.
Example of direct links:
- in relation to the use of illegal or unlicensed software
Examples of indirect links:
- where infringing activities are allowed to take place within the work environment,
- with staff using office equipment to make pirate copies of music and films,
- or outsiders allowed on site to sell fake goods to staff.
Criminal law actions are investigated and prosecuted by public law enforcement agencies (such as police and trading standards). Private prosecutions may also be brought by the holders of the IP rights, or their appointed agents. Direct involvement of a business is not needed - persons found guilty of aiding and abetting offences (which means knowing about them and doing nothing to stop them) can potentially face the same penalties as those who have carried out the actual offence.
As
well as custodial sentences and fines you may face orders to surrender all infringing items. Depending
on the nature of the infringement and the circumstances of the case there may also be potential confiscation
of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 
.
Civil law actions deal with certain kinds of workplace infringements. Actions relating to the lack of adequate software licences or licences for photocopying material not exempt from copying, are examples of workplace infringements. A civil action can result in damages and expensive court costs and so it is equally important to tackle such problems in order to avoid potential liability.
The use of unlicensed software may also create other liabilities for businesses.