(1) A person
commits an offense if the person:
(a) For commercial advantage or private financial gain
advertises, offers for sale, sells, rents, transports, causes the
sale, resale, rental, or transportation of or possesses for one
or more of these purposes a recording of a live performance with
the knowledge that the live performance has been recorded or
fixed without the consent of the owner; or
(b) With the intent to sell for commercial advantage or
private financial gain records or fixes or causes to be recorded
or fixed on a recording a live performance with the knowledge
that the live performance has been recorded or fixed without the
consent of the owner.
(2)(a) An offense under this section is a class B felony
punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty thousand
dollars, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, if:
(i) The offense involves at least one thousand unauthorized
recordings embodying sound or at least one hundred unauthorized
audiovisual recordings during a one hundred eighty-day period; or
(ii) The defendant has been previously convicted under this
section.
(b) An offense under this section is a class C felony
punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty thousand
dollars, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, if
the offense involves more than one hundred but less than one
thousand unauthorized recordings embodying sound or more than ten
but less than one hundred unauthorized audiovisual recordings
during a one hundred eighty-day period.
(c) Any other offense under this section is a gross
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than one year, or
both.
(3) In the absence of a written agreement or law to the
contrary, the performer or performers of a live performance are
presumed to own the rights to record or fix those sounds.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a person who is
authorized to maintain custody and control over business records
that reflect whether or not the owner of the live performance
consented to having the live performance recorded or fixed is a
competent witness in a proceeding regarding the issue of consent.
(5) This section does not affect the rights and remedies of
a party in private litigation.
[2003 c 53 § 144; 1991 c 38 § 3; 1974 ex.s. c 100 § 3.]
NOTES:
Intent -- Effective date -- 2003 c 53: See notes following RCW 2.48.180.