The Florida Senate

817.5615  Marks required on optical discs; prohibited acts; penalties.--

(1)  For purposes of this act, the term:

(a)  "Commercial purposes" means the manufacture of at least 10 of the same or different optical discs in a 180-day period by storing information on the disc for purposes of sale in this state by that person or other persons.

(b)  "Manufacture" means replication of the physical optical disc or production of the master used in any optical disc replication process, but does not include the manufacture of optical discs for internal use, testing, or review or blank optical discs.

(c)  "Optical disc" means a disc capable of being read by a laser or other light source on which data is stored in digital form, including, but not limited to, discs known as compact discs, recordable compact discs, and digital video discs.

(d)  "Identification mark" means the name of the manufacturer and the state in which the disc was manufactured, or a unique identifier that identifies the place where an optical disc was manufactured.

(2)(a)  Each person who manufactures optical discs for commercial purposes shall permanently mark each manufactured optical disc with an identification mark. The identification mark shall be affixed by molding, die-stamping, etching, or other permanent method in a manner in which it is clearly visible without the aid of magnification or special devices to read the mark. Any person who manufactures optical discs for commercial purposes without complying with this paragraph shall be subject to a fine of up to $5,000 for a first offense and a fine of up to $50,000 for a second or subsequent offense.

(b)  It is unlawful for any person to buy, sell, receive, transfer, or possess for purposes of sale or rental an optical disc knowing that the identification mark required by this section has been removed, defaced, covered, altered, or destroyed or knowing it was manufactured in this state without the required identification mark or with a false identification mark. Any person who buys, sells, receives, transfers, or possesses for purposes of sale or rental an optical disc knowing that the identification mark required by this section has been removed, defaced, covered, altered, or destroyed or knowing it was manufactured in this state without the required identification mark or with a false identification mark commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

(c)  It is unlawful for any person to knowingly remove, deface, cover, alter, or destroy the identification mark required by this section. Any person who knowingly removes, defaces, covers, alters, or destroys the identification mark required by this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

History.--s. 1, ch. 99-383.