The U.S. Trade Representative should designate Ukraine as a “Priority...

The U.S. Trade Representative should designate Ukraine as a “Priority Foreign Country” in its Special 301 proceeding because of “severe legal and copyright enforcement problems,” said the International Intellectual Property Alliance Friday in comments to USTR. The Special 301 report focuses on the extent of copyright piracy and market access barriers U.S. creative industries face in some overseas markets. The USTR should also “immediately suspend Ukraine’s eligibility to continue receiving Generalized System of Preferences benefits,” IIPA said in a news release. “Problems in Ukraine include rampant online and hard goods piracy, governmental decisions to act against the legitimate collecting society instead of against rogue societies, and the pervasive use of unlicensed software by businesses and government ministries.” The piracy rate and the level of copyright protection in Ukraine have worsened in the last two years, including “widespread” film and music piracy, IIPA said. The group acknowledged that Ukraine’s government has aided in multinational efforts to stem piracy in the country, but said the government never implemented the IPR “Action Plan” with the U.S. government -- and its recent actions “would weaken, not strengthen, enforcement.” IIPA also recommended the USTR place or maintain seven nations on its Priority Watch List: Argentina, Chile, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia and Russia. IIPA said 25 more nations should be placed or maintained on the Watch List: Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam (http://xrl.us/bofo8v). Public Knowledge also filed comments in the Special 301 proceeding. The group told USTR (http://xrl.us/bofo74) its comments were similar to those it made in previous filing cycles and weren’t specific to any country. The entire Special 301 process “takes a one-sided view of copyright law” that “promotes excessive copyright owner control over content and hurts developing countries’ ability to confidently adopt copyright laws that allow libraries to lend and preserve books, educators to use material in teaching, citizens to make social and political commentary using popular film and television shows, and a variety of other socially, economically, and politically beneficial uses,” said Rashmi Rangnath, director of the group’s Global Knowledge Initiative, in a separate statement (http://xrl.us/bofo8x). A “balanced view” of copyright would not only benefit other countries but also U.S. tech companies, which rely on limitations and exceptions “to make and market their products abroad,” she said.