Section 217. Criminal Penalties. -

217.1.

Any person infringing any right secured by provisions of Part IV of this Act or aiding or abetting such infringement shall be guilty of a crime punishable by:

1. Imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years plus a fine ranging from Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) to One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) for the first offense.

2. Imprisonment of three (3) years and one (1) day to six (6) years plus a fine ranging from One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) for the second offense.

3. Imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to nine (9) years plus a fine ranging from five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) to One million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000) for the third and subsequent offenses.

4. In all cases, subsidiary imprisonment in cases of insolvency.

217.2.

In determining the number of years of imprisonment and the amount of fine, the court shall consider the value of the infringing materials that the defendant has produced or manufactured and the damage that the copyright owner has suffered by reason of the infringement: Provided, That the respective maximum penalty stated in Section 217.1. (a), (b) and (c) herein for the first, second, third and subsequent offense, shall be imposed when the infringement is committed by:

1. The circumvention of effective technological measures;

2. The removal or alteration of any electronic rights management information from a copy of a work, sound recording, or fixation of a performance, by a person, knowingly and without authority; or

3. The distribution, importation for distribution, broadcast, or communication to the public of works or copies of works, by a person without authority, knowing that electronic rights management information has been removed or altered without authority.

217.3.

Any person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work has in his possession an article which he knows, or ought to know, to be an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of:

1. Selling, letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale, or hire, the article;

2. Distributing the article for purpose of trade, or for any other purpose to an extent that will prejudice the rights of the copyright owner in the work; or

3. Trade exhibit of the article in public, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment and fine as above mentioned. (Sec. 29, P.D. No. 49a)