Press Release

NMPA & International Copyright Industries Release Report on Copyright Piracy to U.S. Trade Representative Bob Portman
February 14, 2006 – Yesterday, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), in conjunction with the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a coalition of seven copyright-based associations, submitted its recommendations with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman in the annual “Special 301” review of copyright piracy and related market access problems around the world.  The Special 301 provision requires USTR each year to identify countries that (1) fail to provide adequate and effective protection for intellectual property or (2) deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. companies that rely on intellectual property rights.

The recommendations include naming Russia a Priority Foreign Country, and placing the following 16 countries on the Priority Watch List: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Lebanon, The People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

As a result of the deficiencies in the copyright regimes of these surveyed 68 country and/or territories, the IIPA conservatively estimates that losses due to copyright piracy were at least $15.8 billion in 2005, or about half of the total global losses due to piracy last year. This does not include the significant losses due to Internet piracy, for which meaningful estimates are not yet available.

“These 68 countries account for nearly half of the global piracy losses in 2005,” said David Israelite, President & CEO, NMPA. “NMPA applauds USTR and the other government agencies for focusing on thwarting the theft of intellectual property.  We also recognize more must be done globally to strengthen laws that will aid in prosecuting pirates and impose deterrent penalties to protect our creative works.”

Today’s report also identifies seven challenges and initiatives that define the industries’ collective agenda for 2006 and for which it urges the U.S. Government action with our trading partners:  (1) effective and deterrent enforcement against copyright piracy; (2) Internet piracy, electronic commerce and the WIPO Internet Treaties; (3) optical disc piracy and its effective regulation; (4) piracy by organized crime syndicates; (5) end-user piracy of business software and other copyrighted materials; (6) piracy of books and journals; and (7) using Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to improve global standards of copyright protection and enforcement.  

For a list of countries submitted to USTR by NMPA and other copyright-related industries, please visit www.iipa.com.

About the NMPA
Founded in 1917, The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is a trade association representing almost 600 American music publishers, who in turn administrate the catalogs of over 27,000 publishers. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and their songwriter partners in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of music copyrights.

Music publishers control the copyrights for the underlying compositions of songs on behalf of the songwriters they represent. The NMPA is the leading trade association in the United States for music publishers, and advocates for their interests, as well as for their songwriter partners, by protecting, upholding, and advancing their valuable copyrights. The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., a subsidiary of the NMPA, is the premier U.S. mechanical rights organization.