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Combating piracy

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​The SCPP's Anti-Piracy Office ensures that millions of illegal links are deferenced every year and closes down the biggest illegal music file-sharing sites​


Piracy is a generic term that refers to the fixation, reproduction or provision (especially by the sale or on the Internet) of illegal sound recordings, i.e. made without the authorization of the producer or the performers. 


Piracy is a parasitical activity; it is the theft of someone else's property and is a crime punishable by law. It deprives authors, performers and producers of the revenues essential to their activity. It does serious harm to musical creation and the development of new artists.


SCPP is authorized by its associates to take legal action in order to put an end to any infringement of the producers' rights set out in Article L335-4 of the Intellectual Property Code. This article provides for any fixation, reproduction, transmission or provision to the public of a sound recording or music video without the producer's permission, against payment or free of charge, to be punishable by a three-year prison sentence or a fine of €300,000. The same penalties apply to any importing or exporting of counterfeit sound recordings or music videos.​​


Resources :

  • An anti-piracy office which coordinates prevention actions, the preparation of cases and repression.
  • A team of sworn agents that record infringements and facilitate legal actions. The team's work is performed in close collaboration with SACEM/SDRM and IFPI and also with units of the French Gendarmerie, the police and customs.
  • The anti-piracy office is assisted by internal and external legal counsels in the implementation of prosecution procedures.

Actions of the anti-piracy office :

  • ​​​Combating Internet piracy

The mechanism includes investigations conducted by SCPP's Anti-Piracy Office that seek to identify pirate servers and websites, in addition to prevention and repression actions, and collaborations with the IFPI and the other anti-piracy bodies (SACEM/SDRM, ALPA).​
In the framework of the "Creation and Internet" (Création et Internet) Act, SCPP transmits daily reports to HADOPI on the illegal provision of sound recordings and music videos carried out via P2P exchange systems, which are drawn up by sworn agents.



  • Raising the awareness of members of the magistrature, police and customs with regard to new piracy techniques and keeping them informed of the  ​negative consequences of the phenomenon.

  • ​Combating traditional piracy (bootlegs, partial copies, who​​​​​le copies and copies on CD-R). For this form of piracy, SCPP can rely on a solid record of judicial precedents and exemplary results: one of the world's lowest piracy rates and many convictions of pirates.




Combating piracy