USTR Issues Two Important IP Reports

Piracy of intellectual property (IP) remains a major global problem, and it is important that the United States, along with governments around the world, maintain – and in many cases – strengthen efforts to combat such illegal conduct.

To that end, two reports released by the United States Trade Representative in connection with #WorldIPDay on April 26 contribute to an understanding of the scale of the piracy problem and the need to take measures to combat it. pertaining to global intellectual property rights in advance of World IP Day, which is celebrated on April 26. The USTR’s 2018 "Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets Report" identifies markets around the world that engage in and facilitate copyright piracy. And USTR's "Special 301 Report" is an annual review of the state of IP rights protection and enforcement globally.

Pasted in below is the statement of MPAA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin regarding the release of the two USTR reports:

“The film and television industry is a community of millions of creators and innovators whose daily work in the business and art of storytelling entertains and inspires audiences worldwide. In the United States alone, the industry employs 2.6 million Americans and contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars into local economies every day. The industry also generates a trade surplus with every major economy across the globe, producing a $10.3 billion aggregate surplus. Ahead of World IP Day tomorrow, the USTR rightfully shines a light on the foreign threats to our creative economy, specifically around online content theft.

“The Notorious Markets report makes it clear how criminals are profiting on the backs of American workers in our creative economy. In addition, the Special 301 report underscores this Administration’s commitment to protecting those workers’ intellectual property from those threats. 

“Today’s reports highlight the global nature of piracy and demonstrate that all governments need to do their part in protecting intellectual property, fostering legitimate commerce, and protecting creators. We applaud Ambassador Lighthizer and the USTR staff for doing their part in recognizing some of the most critical challenges and committing to address them. We look forward to continuing our work with them to protect intellectual property rights and grow our creative economy.”

Policymakers should be committed to protecting IP rights every day, of course. But surely World IP Day should be an occasion to recommit to that end."

With Strong IP Protections, Film and TV Made $131 Billion in 2014

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced new figures regarding the economic contribution of the motion picture and television industry to the United States economy. Here are some of the key findings regarding the industry’s economic contribution:

• The industry contributed $131 billion in sales to the overall economy in 2014 (up 2% from 2013).

• The industry supported 1.9 million jobs and $121 billion in total wages in 2014.

• The industry is comprised of nearly 89,000 businesses in total, located in every state in the country. These are mainly small businesses; 84% employ fewer than 10 people.

• The industry made over $41 billion in payments to more than 345,000 local businesses in 2014.

• The industry generated $19.3 billion in public revenues in 2014 from sales taxes on goods, state income taxes, and federal taxes including income tax, unemployment, Medicare and Social Security, based on direct employment in the industry.

The motion picture and television industry’s contributions to the U.S. economy would not be possible without strong intellectual property (IP) rights protections. Although online piracy is still a huge problem that has the effect of destroying jobs and investment, despite this loss, Americans still benefit from hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity generated by the motion picture and television industry.

Strong IP rights protections promote creativity, innovation, and investment by content creators and by artists and entrepreneurs throughout the entire economy. In the motion picture and television industry and other creative industries, consumers, ultimately, are the beneficiaries of such innovation and investment.

Another TAG Effort to Combat Online Piracy

On June 9, 2016, the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) announced that advertising agencies Interpublic and Omnicom as well as Google, Go Daddy, and Bayer Consumer Health have joined its voluntary initiative that is aimed at preventing ad placement on websites which facilitate the distribution of pirated content and/or the illegal dissemination of counterfeit goods. (See this February 2015 blog for more on TAG.)

The addition of these companies and advertising agencies to TAG’s ongoing initiative should be helpful in reducing the $2.4 billion that legitimate content creators and entrepreneurs lose to pirated websites each year. In 2014, ad-supported piracy generated $204 million in aggregate revenue according the Digital Citizen’s Alliance. Without the use of Google’s search engine facilitating as much distribution of illegal content, piracy loss should be meaningfully reduced. Google’s support, if implemented properly, should mean YouTube users will not be able to generate ad-supported revenue from pirated content.

It is necessary to address, and diminish, piracy and content theft through voluntary initiatives like TAG's that help ensure that content creators, artists, innovators, and marketers can earn a return on their creative works!

MPAA and Radix Agree to Combat Piracy

On May 13, 2016, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and domain name registry operator Radix announced an agreement to help ensure that websites using domains operated by Radix are not engaging in large-scale commercial piracy. Similar to MPAA’s recent agreement with Donuts, MPAA will act as a “Trusted Notifier” to inform Radix when a websites with domain extensions operated by Radix are engaging in large-scale piracy.

It is necessary to address and hopefully diminish piracy and content theft with voluntary initiatives to help ensure that content providers, artists, innovators, and marketers can earn a return on their creative works – thereby incentivizing more innovation, investment, and economic growth.

MPAA and Donuts Establish New Voluntary Initiative Tackling Piracy

On February 9, 2016, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Donuts Inc., the world’s largest operator of new domain name extensions, established a voluntary initiative to help ensure that websites using Donuts-operated top-level domains are not engaging in large-scale piracy. Under the terms of the agreement, Donuts will treat MPAA as a “Trusted Notifier” with respect to referrals that include clear evidence of copyright infringement.

MPAA will submit referrals to Donuts regarding domains which provide false Whois information, engage in copyright infringement, and/or facilitate the sale of illegal content. Then, Donuts will review the referrals and take appropriate enforcement action against the domains.

In December 2015, “Digital Bait”, a Digital Citizens Alliance report, found that malware associated with piracy sites cost consumers $70 million per year.

Piracy online remains a problem. Additionally, for instance, the recent movies “Interstellar” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” have been pirated over 46 million and 30 million times, respectively. This agreement between MPAA and Donuts and other voluntary initiatives, such as TAG and MPAA’s WheretoWatch.com, help consumers find legal content and raise awareness about websites, enterprises, and advertisers that violate intellectual property rights.

Other initiatives, like the Copyright Alert System, allow artists and creators to protect their intellectual property by alerting Internet service providers when a subscriber has engaged in copyright infringement.

It is necessary to address and hopefully diminish piracy and content theft with voluntary initiatives to help ensure that content providers, artists, innovators, and marketers can earn a return on their creative works – thereby incentivizing more innovation, investment, and economic growth. The new Donuts-MPAA voluntary agreement is a positive step in the ongoing fight against piracy of online content. 

MPAA Outlines Four Months of Innovation in the Video Market

Last week, FSF Scholars submitted its response to the questions in the sixth white paper regarding video policy to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) also submitted its response and outlined the dynamic innovations that have occurred in the over-the-top (OTT) video marketplace in just the last four months:

•    On Oct. 15, 2014, Time Warner announced the launch of a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States. 

•    On Oct. 16, 2014, CBS announced the launch of CBS All Access, a subscription video-on-demand and live-streaming service that makes available both archived and current CBS television network programming. 

•    Between Oct. 27, 2014, and Jan. 14, 2015, Amazon introduced the Google Chromecast competitor Fire TV Stick; announced the debut of three original television series and 12 original television pilots; and signed Woody Allen to create his first television series. 

•    Between Oct. 29, 2014, and Jan. 7, 2015, Netflix made announcements regarding 10 original television series. On Jan. 20, 2015, the company announced it had added a record 13 million new subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2014, bringing its total subscriber base to 57.4 million. 

•    Between Oct. 30 and Nov. 18, 2014, Hulu announced two original television series. 

•    On Nov. 13, 2014, Sony announced the launch of PlayStation™ Vue, a cloudbased TV service that makes available 75 channels of live and archived programming, including from CBS, FOX, FX, FOX Sports, YES Network, National Geographic, NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, Telemundo, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Oprah Winfrey Network, HGTV, Food Network, and the Travel Channel.

•    On Jan. 5, 2015, DISH announced the launch of Sling TV, a live, over-the-top television service, including content from ESPN, Disney, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, and the Cartoon Network.

New innovations such as these have emerged to create a dynamically competitive video market, which is a very different snapshot relative to the video market 25 years ago. Over that span, the market share of cable providers has decreased from 95 percent to 55 percent. It is important that video policy reflect the ever-changing market that sees new competitors and innovations every week. 

It is also important to understand that the protection of intellectual property rights plays a pivotal role in the continuing evolution of the video marketplace.

Sony Is the Latest Victim of Online Piracy

Last week, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s email system and other internal systems were hacked by a group called “Guardian of Peace.” This week, five of the studio’s movies were leaked online, including “Fury” and “Annie.” Oddly enough, the two incidents may not be related because it is being reported that the movies, which have been uploaded to many “torrent” websites, were ripped from DVDs.

Online piracy is a serious problem with serious consequences. Two men were recently arrested in London for the their role in leaking the movie “The Expendables 3,” which had over 2.2 million views before it even hit theaters this past summer. The theft of these five Sony movies likely could cost the studio hundreds of millions of dollars before it is over, especially considering that four of the five movies have not been released in theaters yet.

Online piracy is very detrimental to encouraging creative content, so it is important that various groups work together to quickly reduce it. The Motion Picture Association of America recently released a new website, WheretoWatch.com, which helps consumers quickly locate legal content online, in stores, or at the movies theaters. Rightscorp is another good tool that notifies Internet Service Providers, content companies, and consumers when content is pirated online.

Although this recent Sony incident is a step in the wrong direction, hopefully more tools that help secure strong intellectual property rights, like WheretoWatch.com and Rightscorp, will continue to emerge. The protection of intellectual property is essential for encouraging more innovation, creative content, and economic growth.

2014 Global IP Summit - Senator Chris Dodd Spoke about Piracy and Motion Pictures

At Tuesday’s Global IP Summit former US Senator and current Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chris Dodd gave an important speech on the positive impact strong IP rights have for the motion picture industry. Some of the key impacts Senator Dodd mentioned were:

• Online consumers legally accessed more than 5.7 billion films and 56 billion television episodes in 2013 alone. 
• Over 1.9 million people are employed by the American film and television industry. 
• There was $120 billion in sales and $16.2 billion in worldwide exports in 2012 alone.

Despite the billions of dollars in sales and exports, theft of IP, specifically online piracy, is a very serious problem for movie producers and distributors. (See this blog from the summer about “The Expendables 3.”) Senator Dodd cited a Digital Citizens Alliance report which concluded that ad-supported piracy generates $227 million annually. This astonishing number should reinforce the idea that even stronger IP rights and more effective enforcement regimes could benefit the motion picture industry as well as other segments of the American economy that produce creative content, such as musicians and recording companies. Senator Dodd then went on to say something powerful: 

Indeed, one of the Internet’s greatest strengths is that it is not a centralized network. No single entity, government, corporation or individuals controls it. But, conversely, no single entity can solve its problems. That is why it is vital for responsible actors, to work together to reach commercially reasonable and technically feasible solutions if we are going to reduce piracy, and stimulate innovation.

This is why Senator Dodd promoted MPAA’s new search engine for legal content, Wheretowatch.com. (See my blog from last week.) He called it a “one-stop shop, connecting users directly to [more than 100] legal content sites.” Although the serious problem of harmful online piracy may still remain and needs to be combatted, Wheretowatch.com should help reduce piracy by organizing legal content and placing it at the fingertips of Internet users.

MPAA is also exploring other voluntary initiatives that would warn Internet users when they have downloaded illegal content and then direct them towards legal content websites. MPAA is certainly doing its part in trying to diminish online piracy and help secure stronger IP rights. A robust system of IP rights is vital for encouraging more content, innovation, creativity, and economic growth because it allows entrepreneurs and artists to realize the returns from their labors.

2014 Global IP Summit

By Randolph May and Michael Horney

The US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center held its 2^nd Annual IP Summit yesterday with a prestigious list of speakers, and we were both pleased to attend the conference. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) were the two current members of Congress who spoke. There were also many Presidents and CEOs representing successful IP-related companies and organizations, as well as other speakers with heavy involvement in IP-intensive industries.

A principal, notable takeaway from the IP Summit is the message conveyed by the broad range of sponsors for the event. Just to name a few of the wide variety of businesses and organizations – The App Association, American Beverage Association, Biotechnology Industry Organization, CropLife America, Motion Picture Association of America, Pharma, and Software & Information Industry Association – their involvement in the IP Summit is a demonstration of the significant benefits from strong IP rights and effective enforcement regimes.

This broad range of sponsors is itself an indication that the protection of IP rights (whether copyrights, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets) is important to the success of many industries that span around the globe and benefit consumers worldwide. 

MPAA Releases New Search Engine Full of Legal Content

Today, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced a new search engine called Wheretowatch.com. Users of the search engine can find legal copies of their favorite movies and television shows across the Internet. Also, by enabling their location, consumers can find movies in nearby stores as well as local television and movie theatre times. Wheretowatch.com users can also watch trailers or set alerts for when specific television and movie content becomes available.

Wheretowatch.com is a very important and innovative tool that should help reduce piracy and theft of intellectual property (IP). Although the serious problem of harmful online piracy may still remain, Wheretowatch.com should help reduce piracy by organizing legal content and placing it at fingertips of Internet users.

This new tool will help strengthen IP rights by reducing the cost of consuming legal content for Internet users. Strong IP rights are vital for encouraging more content, innovation, and economic growth because they allow entrepreneurs and artists to realize the returns from their labors.