New Anti-Piracy Measures in Spain

On 30 December 2011, the new Spanish government published a Decree to fight against digital piracy, in order to make the procedure to block access to non-authorised works offered on the Internet easier and faster.

A new body within the Ministry of Culture will be in charge of managing and coordinating the process, which is independent from any other civil or criminal procedure. An individual rightholder or a collective management organisation can address this body and request that the website provider is asked to remove unauthorised content.

The Decree, which will come into force on 1 March 2012, provides for the possible help of the Spanish courts both for the identification of those responsible for the website and in order to enforce the decision of this new administrative body, if required.