Odszkodowanie z tytułu naruszenia praw autorskich – rozwój czy degeneracja?
Damages for Infringement of Copyright – Development or Decline?

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the claim for damages as regulated in Art. 79 section 1 point 3 letter b) of the Copyright Act and contains an assessment thereof presented against the background of European law. The claim for damages in the case of infringement of copyright is currently provided for in two variants: as compensation falling under general principles of liability for damages and, alternatively, as compensation taking the form of a lump sum. As far as the lump-sum compensation is concerned, it is not necessary for the claimant to prove actual damage. The amount of compensation in this form is set as a double amount (in the absence of culpability on the part of the infringer) or a triple amount (when the infringing conduct is culpable) of an “appropriate royalty”. Such a severe liability violates the civil law standards pertaining to the redress of damages, in particular it interferes with the compensative function of liability for damages. It simultaneously distorts the balance between the claim for a lump-sum compensation and other claims available to right holders in the case of infringement of copyright and, in wider perspective, the balance within the entire system of intellectual property law. It appears dubious whether the legal regulation of the claim for a lump-sum compensation contained in Art. 79 section 1 point 3 letter b) of the Copyright Act is in compliance with the Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Arguments in support of this view have been put forward in the article. Doubts which been expressed in that regard will most likely be clarified by the Court of Justice in its future response to the request for a preliminary ruling, which was made by the Supreme Court.

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