For Immediate Release

Contact: Judith Platt

Ph: 202-220-4551

Publishers and Other Copyright Industries Submit Annual Review of Global Intellectual Property Protection to the USTR 

Washington, DC,February 12, 2008: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) joined with six other copyright-related trade associations to submit its annual Special 301 Report to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on February 11. The report, completed under the umbrella of the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), details copyright piracy and related intellectual property rights and market access problems around the world.

This year’s report highlights copyright protection and enforcement problems in 51 countries and territories, and recommends that 43 of them be placed on an appropriate USTR “watch list.”  The U.S. Trade Representative is required by statute to conduct an annual review, undertaken each spring, of intellectual property protection worldwide and the report was prepared pursuant to that mandated review.  USTR places countries and territories on appropriate watch lists based upon their ineffectiveness in dealing with intellectual property theft.  Global piracy continues to be a serious problem for the copyright industries, and the unwillingness of the countries and territories identified to curb piracy costs the U.S. economy high paying jobs and undermines U.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 organization in the UK have continued their engagement with China over the past year, especially regarding organized textbook piracy on China’s university campuses and Internet infringements affecting professional and scholarly publishers.  While 2007 saw progress made on the textbook piracy issue, China has still failed to implement key notices regarding textbook piracy issued over a year ago, and the threat of Internet piracy is growing daily.  Chinese authorities need to find more efficient ways to tackle this problem.  The report also recommends that 12 other countries be placed on the Priority Watch List, including Thailand, India, Russia, Mexico, Turkey and Canada.  The report recommends that 29 countries/territories be placed or kept on the Watch List.  The report also requests Special 301 out-of-cycle reviews for Thailand, the Philippines and Italy.  Finally, IIPA reports serious piracy or law reform problems in eight additional countries or territories, including Japan and Hong Kong, among others.  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 to the affected industries.  

AAP, as a member of the IIPA, submits specific recommendations as they relate to the publishing industry as part of the annual review.  AAP conservatively estimates losses to U.S. book publishers at $531.5 million in 2007, as a result of continued commercial scale photocopying, illegal print runs, unauthorized translations and CD-R burning of book text. AAP President and CEO Pat Schroeder said that: “The Special 301 process reminds us that the constant and evolving threat of piracy, including piracy of books and journals in all forms, stunts economic growth in the U.S. and abroad by harming industries that play a central role in that growth.  In addition to the problems of illegal photocopying and print piracy that we are already battling, digital online and mobile piracy are mounting menaces, and are therefore highlighted in several ways in this year’s report.  Increases in broadband penetration, online offerings of books and journals and the popularity of mobile devices make this ever-lurking problem an increasingly immediate threat for our industry.  It is imperative that the gaps in protection highlighted in this report are mended, to ensure efficient mechanisms for tackling the myriad problems our industry will face in 2008.”

Mrs. Schroeder continued by highlighting some of the specific issues featured in the IIPA report: “China’s efforts to tackle book piracy on university campuses remain steady, but a Ministry of Education campaign to reach China’s hundreds of outlying universities has not materialized during 2007 as promised.  Internet piracy, in turn, has taken its toll on AAP publishers in China already, and threatens to spiral out of control.  South Korea’s Ministry of Education initiative regarding campus-based book piracy has stalled and needs to be revived, and governments in Hong Kong and Japan need to ensure that their laws do not undermine book and journal publishers who supply those markets with key educational and scientific materials.  Thailand is facing a rare but incredibly damaging pirate export problem that must be snuffed out immediately.  These are just a few of the issues highlighted in the comprehensive report, and it deserves immediate attention from government officials in the U.S. and named territories alike.”

The full report can be accessed at www.iipa.com .

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.

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