U.S. Preps Anti-Piracy Agreement with Trade Partners

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 24: The U.S. and some of its key
trade partners, including the European Union, Mexico and Japan, are set to
begin working together to hammer out a new agreement aimed at reducing
counterfeiting and piracy around the world.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced plans for
the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) yesterday at a press conference
on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and ambassadors from countries who
will be part of the new initiative. Trading partners engaged in the discussions
so far include Canada, the European Union (with its 27 member states), Japan,
Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The agreement will aim to encourage cooperation and sharing
of best practices between the signatories, and establish a strong legal
framework for enforcing intellectual property rights. ACTA will not fall under
the mandate of the World Trade Organization, which already encourages copyright
protection with its Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS).

Negotiations between the U.S. and its partners on the
agreement are ongoing and no deadline has been set for ACTA’s implementation.

“Global counterfeiting and piracy steal billions of dollars
from workers, artists and entrepreneurs each year and jeopardize the health and
safety of citizens across the world,” Schwab said in a statement. “The United
States looks forward to partnering with many of our key trading partners to
combat this global problem.”

The move has been applauded by the Hollywood studios and
independent distributors in the U.S. The Motion Picture Association of
America’s (MPAA) chairman and CEO, Dan Glickman, noted: “This agreement has
real potential to improve the protection and enforcement of intellectual
property rights in major markets around the world. We think this agreement will
help shift the international debate on intellectual property rights in favor of
international cooperation and strong enforcement standards.”

Jean M. Prewitt, the president and CEO of the Independent
Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), said: “Piracy remains a key problem
globally, causing significant revenue and job losses to the U.S. economy and
economies worldwide. Effective enforcement is a critical element of forging an
effective IPR regime and combating these losses. IFTA and its members
particularly applaud the proposed agreement’s focus on Internet piracy and
effective enforcement in the online environment. IFTA looks forward to
supporting USTR in the government consultations and ensuring that the interests
of independent rights holders, some of
whose concerns may be different from other rights holders, are fully
protected.”

—By Mansha Daswani