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Criminal Sanctions
Article 64
Any willful infringement of the following committed unlawfully and in any way, for the
purposes of commercial exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period Y of
between two and six months and a fine of between ten thousand (10,000) and one
hundred thousand (100,000) dirhams, or just one of these two penalties:
H the copyright mentioned in Articles 9 and 10;
• the rights of performers mentioned in Article 50;
• the rights of phonogram producers mentioned in Article 51;
• the rights of broadcasting organizations mentioned in Article 52.
Willful infringements for the purposes of commercial exploitation shall mean:
• any willful infringement of copyright or related rights which is not motivated, either
directly or indirectly, by financial gain;
• any willful infringement committed with the aim of obtaining commercial advantage or
private financial gain.
The same penalties specified in the first paragraph above, as well as additional
measures and sanctions mentioned in Article 64.3 below, shall be applied to:
• whoever imports or exports copies made in violation of the provisions of this Law;
• whoever unlawfully carries out one of the acts mentioned in Article 7(1) of this Law;
• whoever commits one of the acts mentioned in Article 65 of this Law;
• whoever has been found legally liable under Article 65.4 of this Law.
Article 64.1
In the case of persistent infringement, the penalties specified in Article 64 above
shall be doubled.
Article 64.2
If the perpetrator of one of the acts mentioned in Article 64 commits a new act that
constitutes an infringement of copyright or related rights less than five years after a first
judgment that has become final, he shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of
between one and four years and a fine of between sixty thousand (60,000) dirhams
and six hundred thousand (600,000) dirhams, or just one of these penalties.
Article 64.3
In cases of infringement of the provisions of this Law, the competent court may order the
following preventive measures and subsidiary penalties, provided that a prior order or
judgment on the same subject has not already been issued against the same parties:
1. the impounding of all copies made in infringement of the provisions of this Law, the
packaging, the materials and equipment that could be used to commit the
infringement, the assets linked to the infringement and the documents, accounts or
business papers referring to such copies;
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