The legal and evidential questions
Copyright Piracy and Digital Content. The first task is to separate criminal allegations from civil infringement and customs procedures. The statutory starting point shown on this page is Article 189 (Encroachment upon copyright, related rights or database rights). Copyright and related-rights offences have their own protected-right, conduct and income tests and should not be treated as trademark counterfeiting.
Identify ownership and licensing scope, the specific work or database, source and distribution files, platform and revenue data, notices, access history and the accused user’s role.
Infringement, border action and crime are not interchangeable
An unauthorised use may support civil or customs action without satisfying a criminal offence. Criminal analysis requires the precise protected right, conduct, scale or damage threshold, knowledge and role of each participant to be proved under the applicable current provision.
Questions to answer first
Separate criminal allegations from civil infringement and customs procedures
Identify the protected right, accused conduct, knowledge, quantity and alleged damage
Preserve authentic comparison material, samples and supply-chain records
Distinguish manufacturer, importer, distributor, retailer, platform and brand-owner roles
Evidence that may matter
- Trademark registrations and authentic comparison samples
- Seized goods, packaging, labels and chain-of-custody records
- Invoices, customs declarations and transport documents
- Supplier, distributor, marketplace and payment records
- Technical, digital, accounting and product-authentication expertise
Criminal Code articles to check
Encroachment upon copyright, related rights or database rights
Copyright and related-rights offences have their own protected-right, conduct and income tests and should not be treated as trademark counterfeiting.
Read full Article 189 text on this pageRead the relevant Criminal Code provisions
The panel below reproduces the available official English wording for convenient reading. Check the current Georgian text and the exact article part before relying on it, because later amendments may not yet appear in translation.
Article 189Encroachment upon the rights of a holder of copyright or related rights and upon the rights of database manufacturers+
1. Appropriation of authorship of a copyrighted work or coercion into co- authorship, –
shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for up to two years.
2. The act provided for by paragraph 1 of this article committed repeatedly, –
shall be punished by house arrest for a term of six months to one year or by imprisonment for up to three years.
3. Reproduction or unauthorised purchase, import, storage, sale, rent, transfer of a work, audio or video recording or database and/or otherwise encroaching on the rights of a holder of the copyright, related rights or of the manufacturer of a database in violation of the Law of Georgia on Copyrights and Related Rights and committed to gain large income, –
shall be punished by a fine or by house arrest for a term of one to two years.
4. The act provided for by paragraph 3 of this article committed:
a) to gain particularly large income;
b) by a group of persons with preliminary agreement, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years.
Note:
1. The act provided for by this article shall be considered to have been committed to gain large income if the cost of the copies of the work, audio or video recording, or database or the income to be gained by the holder of the copyright, related rights or by the manufacturer of a database in the case of lawful use of his/her rights exceeds GEL 5 000, and shall be considered to have been committed to gain particularly large income if the above cost or income exceeds GEL 10 000.
2. For the acts specified in this article a legal person shall be punished by a fine, with deprivation of the right to carry out activities, or by liquidation and a fine.
The consolidated official source is listed in the source section at the end of this guide.
How the process may develop
Primary sources for this guide
Before acting, compare this guide with the current Georgian text and the exact document served in the case. The official English translation may not include the latest amendment.
Official consolidated Criminal Code — current text & PDF↗︎Law of Georgia on Trademarks↗︎Law on Border Measures Related to Intellectual Property↗︎