USTR Reviews Administration's IPR Policies

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

08 February 2012

During a speech to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Miriam Sapiro, Deputy United States Trade Representative, concentrated on the Obama Administration’s efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) abroad, particularly within the provisions of the free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, as well as in the recently-signed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Sapiro began by pointing out the “positive, job-creating and job-sustaining impact of the USD12bn trade surplus that the US runs in movies, television and other audiovisual services.”

"Protecting IPR protects American jobs,” she emphasized. "Contrary to what many think, when people download a pirated film or song without paying for the right to do so, their actions are not victimless crimes. IATSE statistics indicate that year-after-year your members experience roughly USD100m in lost residuals to their health and pension funds as a result of IPR theft.”

She also stressed that IPR protection is a vital component of all of US trade agreements. "Since President Obama signed legislation approving trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea in October,” Shapiro continued, “we have been working with these countries to ensure they are adopting the laws and regulations necessary to meet their commitments, particularly with respect to intellectual property, before we bring these agreements into force.”

"All three agreements have robust IPR provisions that offer significant protection for US companies and workers,” she added, while the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently being negotiated, will be “an ambitious, cutting-edge trade arrangement, with binding commitments to market access across all sectors, including IPR.”

In addition, the US has also completed the IP-specific ACTA, marking, in her opinion, “an important step forward in the international fight against trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy.”

"ACTA is an important new tool to fight global growth in counterfeiting and piracy,” she said. “The agreement calls for strengthening cooperation, enforcement practices, and the legal framework for IPR enforcement. It is the most significant IPR agreement in the last ten years and the most significant IPR enforcement agreement ever.”

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