The law, which took effect yesterday (August 4), replaces the original one which was in use for 21 years and needed amendments to better protect copyright holders, the Department of Intellectual Property director-general Malee Choklumlerd said.
Violators of the law, if found guilty by the court, must pay up to two times the damage value, Ms Malee said.
Violators of technological copyright protection such as hackers who forcibly gain access to copyrighted content or those who delete a picture's watermark for their own benefit could face B10,000-B100,000 in fines. If the technology violation has commercial purposes, the penalty will rise to B50,000-B400,000. They also face a term in prison of three months to two years.
Ordinary copyright violations could be liable to fines of B20,000-B200,000, and for those who breach copyright for commercial purposes, fines of B100,000-B800,000 and jail terms of six months to four years are in prospect.
These heavy penalties serve as warnings, especially for internet surfers and Line app users, that people must think carefully before sharing content in the cyber world, Ms Malee said.
Internet users must be more careful when they copy text or photos, protected under copyright law, and share them online or paste them on their Facebook pages.
In fact, she said, even sharing "good morning" stickers via Line could violate the law if those who create the stickers want to claim their rights, she said.
People must study the usage conditions to see to what degree they are allowed to use the content.
Generally if they use one or two photos which hold no significant value and do not use them for commercial purposes, their acts will be considered as "fair use" without violating copyright law, Ms Malee said.
Internet users are not required to ask permission from text or photo owners if they want to use their content for private or academic purposes, she said.
However, people should always give credit to content owners and make sure the usage will not hinder any benefits to which the owners have rights.
Embedding a YouTube clip to a blog without permission could be seen as defying the law, she said.
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