The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has joined six other copyright-related trade associations to submit its annual Special 301 Report to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The report, completed under the umbrella of the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), details issues related to IP rights protection and market access around the world.
This year's report highlights copyright protection and enforcement problems in 48 countries and territories, and recommends that 40 of them be placed on an appropriate USTR watch list. USTR is required by statute to conduct an annual review of IP protection worldwide, undertaken each spring, and the IIPA report was prepared pursuant to that mandate. It places countries and territories on appropriate watch lists if an interagency government review process finds shortcomings in their efforts to combat IP theft. Global piracy continues to be viewed as a serious problem for the copyright industries and the US economy, costing high paying US jobs and undermining the nation's economic growth.
In the report, the IIPA asks that China be placed on the Priority Watch List again this year. AAP and its sister organisation in the UK have continued their anti-piracy efforts in China over the past year. There is a particular emphasis on organised textbook piracy on that country's university campuses and on Internet infringements affecting professional and scholarly publishers. While 2008 saw ongoing action on the textbook piracy issue, much more needs to be done, it has been observed. New revelations about the widespread use of infringing textbooks and reference books in university libraries throughout the country are particularly troubling. In addition, AAP remains deeply concerned by the Chinese government's inaction in the face of egregious infringement of online academic and professional journals by a company called Kangjian Shixun. Well-known Chinese libraries are supplying electronic copies of journals to this company for sale in competition with legitimate publishers.
The IIPA report also recommends that 12 other countries be placed on the Priority Watch List. Among them are Canada, Egypt, India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and Thailand, all of which are of significant interest to US publishers. Thailand is facing a rare but very damaging pirate-production-for-export problem and AAP seeks the full cooperation of Thai authorities in dealing with it. The court systems in the Philippines and India are in need of significant reform; online protection needs to be addressed by Canada and Russia and overall enforcement efforts in Pakistan need improvement.
The report recommends that 25 countries/territories be placed or kept on the Watch List. The report also requests Special 301 out-of-cycle reviews for Spain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Finally, IIPA requests heightened engagement by the US government regarding eight additional countries or territories, including Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. While IIPA makes no recommendation regarding placement of these countries or territories on a Special 301 list, the issues highlighted in the report remain significant.
The full report can be accessed at www.iipa.com.
