In Brazil, illegal trade reaps more than 2 million formal jobs per year and accounts for the evasion of a few billion of Brazilian Reais (BRL), which could be used for social projects, pointed out, on July 30th, the federal deputy Mariana Carvalho (PSDB-RO), president of the Joint Parliamentary Front in Defense of Intellectual Property and Fighting Against Piracy. She was the speaker of the webinar “Fighting Against Piracy and Bills (PLs) Related to Intellectual Property”, organized by ABPI and moderated by ABPI’s vice president Gabriel Leonardos. The deputy stated that “there are more than 200 initiatives underway in the House of Representatives to fight against piracy and the major challenge is to get these projects off the ground”.
The growth of digital piracy, as addressed by the deputy, increases exponentially. According to her, between August 2015 and August 2016, pirated websites received R$ 17 million in advertising revenues. In the area of pay-TV, 4.2 million illegal streamings account for a loss of R$ 9 billion annually. She explained that applying sanctions to this type of digital piracy is difficult because many of these sites are hosted abroad and are not subject to Brazilian law.
The deputy also added that the defense of land and sea borders against piracy depends on the joint coordination of the Federal Police, the Federal Revenue, and the Federal Public Ministry.
According to the president of the Parliamentary Front, the illegal drug market responds for 20% of the more than US$ 10 billion moved by the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil. In the cigarette sector, illegal trade represents 54% of the entire market. “We need to convince the 513 deputies about the importance of fighting against piracy”, she said.
ABPI directors Valdir Rocha, Marcio Merkl, and Rodrigo Ouro Preto participated in the webinar, in addition to lawyer Gustavo Morais.
Watch the full webinar on ABPI’s Channel on Youtube.
