China Loses WTO Case to the US

An American official announced on Monday that China lost the World Trade Organization (WTO) case in which it was fighting the United States, and that the Asian nation would be from now on forced to enact more complex laws, to ensure that copyright holders are not deprived of their income. Chinese authorities systematically fail to respect and impose copyright and trademark rights on various products, so American books, movies, music, and other data, are sold openly in markets across China on a regular basis.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, which consists of music and movie producers, book authors and other copyright holders, approximated that China alone put a $3.7 billion dent in its estimated profits. It said that, if all countries were to behave like the Asian nations, there would no longer be any incentive for Hollywood, or for various singers to do what they do.

"Today, a WTO panel found that a number of deficiencies in China's IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) regime are incompatible with its WTO obligations. We will engage vigorously with China on appropriate corrective actions to ensure that U.S. rights holders obtain the benefits of this decision," Peter Allgeier, who is the acting U.S. trade representative, announced in a statement.

"China restricts access to many legitimate titles, but that doesn't stop the pirated distribution of virtually all U.S. films in China," the President of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Dan Glickman, complained in an announcement.

The US also protested against the fact that official auctions in China sold large amounts of counterfeited goods, with no control or additional requirements. Basically, all the country does is ask those auctioning the products to remove their bar code or false label, which is insufficient, Americans say.

The ruling "that enforcement must be effective not only in law but in practice, and that standards of effectiveness change over time and reflect the realities of the marketplace" was welcomed by the US recording industry, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) executive vice president Neil Turkewitiz told in a communique.