Mo. Rev. Stat. § 570.225

Current with changes from the 2024 Legislative Session

Section 570.225 - Misappropriation of intellectual property - penalty - definitions

1. A person commits the offense of misappropriation of intellectual property if he or she, without the consent of the owner:

(1) Copies any sounds recorded on any medium now known or later developed on which sounds are recorded, with the purpose to sell or cause to be sold for profit or used to promote the sale of any article on which sounds are transferred, except that this section shall only apply to sound recordings initially fixed prior to February 15, 1972;

(2) Records sounds or images of any performance whether live before an audience or transmitted by wire or through the air by radio or television, with the intent to sell the performance or cause it to be sold for profit;

(3) Offers for sale, sells, or processes for such purposes any article that has been produced in violation of subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection 1 of this section, knowing, or having reasonable grounds to know, that the sounds or images thereon have been so copied or recorded without the consent of the owner; or

(4) Advertises, rents, sells, offers for rental or sale, or possesses for such purposes any medium now known or later developed on which sounds or images are recorded if the article's label, cover, box or jacket does not contain in clearly readable print the name and address of the manufacturer.

2. This section shall not apply to:

(1) Any radio or television broadcaster who transfers any such sounds as part of, or in connection with, a radio or television broadcast transmission or for archival preservation;

(2) Any person transferring any such sounds at home for his or her personal use without any compensation being derived by such person or any other person from such transfer; or

(3) Any cable television company that transfers any such sounds as part of its regular cable television service.

3. The offense of misappropriation of intellectual property is a class A misdemeanor unless:

(1) One hundred or more articles were involved; or

(2) A person is found guilty of violating this section, and that person has previously been found guilty of a violation of this section;

in which case it is a class D felony.

4. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1)"Audiovisual works", works that consist of a series of related images which are intrinsically intended to be shown by the use of machines, electronic equipment or other devices, now known or later developed, together with accompanying sounds, if any;

(2)"Manufacturer", the person who transfers or causes to be transferred any sounds or images to the particular article, medium, recording or other physical embodiment of such sounds or images then in issue;

(3)"Motion pictures", audiovisual works consisting of a series of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any;

(4)"Owner", the person who owns the sounds of any performance not yet fixed in a medium of expression, or the original fixation of sounds embodied in the master device or medium now known or later developed for the use of reproducing sounds, or other articles or media upon which sound is or may be recorded, and from which the copied recorded sounds are directly or indirectly derived;

(5)"Person", any natural person, corporation or other business entity.

§ 570.225, RSMo

Amended by 2014 Mo. Laws, SB 491,s A, eff. 1/1/2017.

L. 1977 S.B. 92 § 1, A.L. 1993 S.B. 180