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Shaggy is correct -- punitive damages are rare in general.
The idea that you can get punitive damages for behavior that is "unethical" but not otherwise compensable ("illegal") is not correct, however. Unless you can show eligibility for compensatory damages as a plaintiff, punitive damages aren't even an issue.
Copyright law also recognizes that actual damages are hard to prove and provides for statutory damages, although I don't know what they are at this point.
As for the European/American differences, the main reason that the US did away with all the formalistic requirements to *assert* copyright (using the symbol, registering, etc.) was to enact uniform standards under international trade agreements. The changes took place, mostly, in the late 90's -- it was one of the later rounds of the GATT negotiations.
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