Publishers Welcome Chinese Commitments to Strengthen Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement

Friday, 17 December 2010 | Judith Platt

China Agrees to Take Steps to Eradicate Piracy of Electronic Journals

Tom Allen, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, issued the following statement regarding commitments made by China at this week’s U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) Meeting:

“We’re particularly encouraged by the Chinese government’s expressed intention to investigate complaints by academic journal publishers concerning online piracy of academic journals, and its commitment to ‘take prompt action at the conclusion of its investigations’.” While the inspections of libraries promised at last year’s JCCT meeting have reportedly been carried out, no enforcement actions appear to have been undertaken to date against infringements occurring in the library sector, so we are especially pleased to learn the Chinese government intends to take action at the end of its investigations. AAP will continue to press for an end to intellectual property violations affecting its members’ books and journals. We are very grateful to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and their teams for their efforts on our behalf.”

Mr. Allen noted that AAP will continue to work and strengthen relationships with the Chinese government and with the Chinese publishing industry, to ensure that progress continues and that these commitments are translated into concrete actions.

The Commerce Department’s press release on the meeting can be found here.

U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade
The US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) was established in 1983 as a forum for high-level dialogue on bilateral trade issues and a vehicle for promoting commercial relations.

About AAP
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s 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. 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.