News - Anti Piracy Caucus

Caucus Hosts State Department Briefing on IPR Efforts

October 12, 2007

The Caucus hosted a briefing by the U.S. State Department regarding their ongoing intellectual property rights efforts. State Department officials briefed congressional staff on 13 international intellectual property law enforcement training programs that will be funded in FY 2008. Since FY 2004, the Department has provided roughly $3 million annually for such programs in priority countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. FY 2008 funds will support training for police, prosecutors and judges in Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, as well as in APEC, ASEAN and the Caribbean.

Co-Chairs Discuss Piracy with Visiting Mexican Parliamentarians

February 13, 2008

Caucus Co-Chairs Congressmen Adam Schiff and Bob Goodlatte
met with a group of visiting Mexican Parliamentarians in the U.S.
Capitol to discuss piracy issues.

For the past three years, the IAPC has included Mexico on its Watch List. Since Mexico was first placed on the IAPC Watch List, cooperation with federal entities has improved. However, Mexico still displays the highest rate of optical disc piracy in the hemisphere.

Street piracy, the selling of pirate CDs and DVDs, is rampant is Mexico. There are approximately 80 very large and well-known “black markets” in Mexico and many of these are well-organized and politically protected. The meeting included a discussion of the need for Mexico to pass anti-camcording legislation and to fully implement the WIPO Internet Treaties.

Caucus Hosts Briefing on IP Protection Issues in China

March 18, 2008

The Caucus hosted a briefing by the Senior IPR attaché at the U.S. Embassy in China to discuss the current state of play on intellectual property rights (IPR) issues in China and what the future holds with legislative reforms, ongoing WTO concerns, and China's efforts to become an innovative economy.

Topics included the following: Is China’s civil system functioning and is it fair? What are the likely implications of China’s new IPR strategy for U.S. and other rights holders seeking to enforce their rights in China? What can we expect from proposed reforms to China’s patent, trademark, and copyrights laws? Have copyright problems migrated from optical disc to the Internet?

The briefing also included a dialogue on what steps can be taken together with U.S. industry to maximize our effectiveness and anticipate problems that may be developing in the future.

Co-Chairs Announce 2008 Caucus “Watch List” and Introduction of Legislation

May 15, 2008

In an effort to combat international copyright piracy by calling attention to countries where piracy has reached alarming levels, the Caucus announced that it will focus on the serious problems of copyright piracy in China, Russia and Canada. These three countries continue to stand out because of the scope and depth of their piracy problems and because piracy in these countries is largely the result of a lack of political will to confront the problem. Violations in these countries contribute to costing the U.S. copyright industries and millions of American workers billions of dollars annually.

In addition to these countries, the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus will also monitor the serious piracy problems in Spain, Greece and Mexico in the coming year.

Caucus Co-Chairs Congressmen Adam Schiff and Bob Goodlatte
unveiled the "Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus 2008
Watch List" during a Caucus press conference today.

“When one of our trading partners allows copyright infringement to occur with impunity, they are gaming the system and injuring our economy,” said Congressman Schiff. “When people buy DVDs on the street or download music on the Internet without paying for it, they aren’t just stealing products, they're stealing jobs from American workers. We must take much stronger action to ensure countries on the list are forced to take piracy seriously.”

Congressman Goodlatte said, “The U.S. is far and away the world's largest producer and exporter of the creative works that entertain, inform and educate the world. In addition, the contribution of the American copyright industry to the strength of the overall American economy is significant. A vibrant sector of the U.S. economy is at tremendous risk due to widespread piracy of U.S.-made movies, music, software, videogames, books, and other creative works. We must work with our international trade partners to secure the enactment of strong copyright laws and the vigilant enforcement of those laws and we will especially be watching closely those countries that have been highlighted today. ”

Finally, the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus was pleased to note that some positive steps have been taken by the governments of Lebanon, Malaysia, and Turkey in addressing their piracy problems. Local governments and law enforcement in these countries have begun working together to effectively fight piracy.

- Caucus 2008 Country Watch List
- Caucus Press Release

Co-Chairs Announce 2007 Caucus “Watch List” and Introduction of Legislation

May 17, 2007

Congressional Co-Chairs Senators Joe Biden and Gordon Smith and Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Adam Schiff today unveiled the "Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus 2007 Watch List."

In an effort to combat international copyright piracy by calling attention to countries where piracy has reached alarming levels, the Caucus announced they will closely monitor the serious problems of copyright piracy in the following countries: China, Russia, Canada, Malaysia, and Mexico.

House Co-Chairs Goodlatte and Schiff also announced the introduction of legislation (H.Res. 414)calling on foreign governments to work diligently to legalize all computer software used by their governments and to implement usage policies to ensure that government computers and networks are not used to facilitate copyright infringement of any kind.

Caucus Alerts Congress to Global Software Piracy Study

May 15, 2007

The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus alerted Congress to the results of an annual study of global trends in software piracy. Key findings of the study revealed that 35% of all software installed on computers worldwide in 2006 was not legitimately purchased, accounting for a $40 billion loss in potential revenue last year alone (up 15% from 2005). According to the study, three former Soviet Republics – Armenia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan – top the list with software piracy rates at 95 and 94%. Vietnam dropped from its three year spot at the top of the list to 5^th place at with a software piracy rate of 88%. The four countries with the lowest software piracy rates are the United States (21%), New Zealand (22%), and Japan and Denmark (25%).

Caucus Reminds Congress of Continuing Threat to U.S. IP on World Intellectual Property Day

April 26, 2007

In observance of World Intellectual Property Day, the Caucus reminded Members of Congress of the continuing threat to U.S. intellectual property posed by overseas pirates. A comprehensive piracy study released last year, calculated that the major U.S. motion picture studios lost $4.8 billion to piracy in other countries in one year alone. Heavy losses have also been faced by other U.S. intellectual property industries, including the sound recording and software industries.

According to the study, China has the highest piracy rate, with 90% percent of the potential motion picture market lost to piracy. While we are pleased that the U.S. has finally filed World Trade Organization (WTO) cases against China over deficiencies in China’s intellectual property rights laws and enforcement, the inadequate protection of intellectual property rights in China continues to cost U.S. firms and workers billions of dollars each year. We will be carefully monitoring the consultations in the WTO matter to ensure that meaningful progress is made and that these issues are finally resolved, and to determine whether congressional action is necessary.

Caucus Hosts Digital Music Briefing

April 19, 2007

Given that a number of policy questions impacting digital music will be addressed in the 110^th Congress, including digital music piracy, music licensing, and issues related to satellite radio, the Caucus hosted an informal briefing with music executives to further inform staff about these complex policy issues and their impact on piracy and the marketplace.

The briefing afforded an opportunity to see the latest digital music entertainment services and gadgets, and provided the opportunity to learn more about the music business from some of the experts in the field.

Caucus Circulates Global Software Piracy Study

May 23, 2006

The Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus alerted Congress to the results of an annual study of global trends in software piracy. The results of this study revealed that 35% of all software installed on computers worldwide in 2005 was not legitimately purchased, accounting for a $34 billion loss in potential revenue last year alone.

According to the study, Vietnam and Zimbabwe had the highest software piracy rate at 90%, marking the third year in a row Vietnam has topped this list. These two countries were followed closely by Indonesia (87%), China (86%), Pakistan (86%), Kazakhstan (85%), and Ukraine (85%). The four countries with the lowest software piracy rates are the United States (21%), New Zealand (23%), Austria (26%), and Finland (26%).