The U.S. and Hungary entered into a comprehensive bilateral Intellectual Property Rights Agreement on September 24, 1993. Currently Hungary does not appear on any Special 301 lists. Unfortunately, judges have not imposed these levels of fines on defendants involved in commercial piracy. The Hungarian government should be encouraged to make anti-piracy enforcement an national priority. The primary audiovisual piracy concerns in Hungary are video and cable television piracy.
Most video pirates have small to medium-sized duplication and distribution operations.
Cable piracy, and to a lesser degree, satellite piracy are persistent problems in Hungary. Distribution of pirate smart cards and illegal decoders is a problem. With respect to broadcast piracy, the new Media Law 1 now requires compliance with copyright as a condition for obtaining and maintaining broadcast licenses. This is an important tool in the fight against broadcast piracy. Since the 1993 amendments to the Criminal Code, the police have maintained good cooperation with ASVA, the local motion picture anti-piracy organization, taking enforcement actions throughout the country.