April 30, 2020
AAP WELCOMES SPECIAL 301 REPORT AND NOTORIOUS MARKETS LIST IDENTIFYING THREATS TO U.S. CREATIVE COMMUNITIES
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomes the recent release of the 2020 Special 301 report and the 2019 “Notorious Markets” list by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), both critical trade tools in identifying and highlighting threats to U.S. creative communities, including book and journal publishers.
USTR’s Special 301 report names countries with inadequate and/or ineffective copyright regimes, including India, Russia, and China, along with Mexico and Canada, while its “Notorious Markets” list identifies online and physical markets that directly engage in or facilitate copyright infringement.
In its Special 301 report, the Administration again expressed concern for the ambiguous education-related exception in Canada’s copyright law, which has adversely affected the country’s educational publishing sector. China is once again listed as a Priority Watch List country, given longstanding issues of piracy and the sale of counterfeit products on ecommerce platforms that remain unresolved.
“AAP is gratified by the efforts of USTR and its interagency colleagues to continue sustained bilateral engagement with trading partners like Canada and China on issues of significant importance to the publishing industry. The industry remains hopeful that progress will be made in addressing the shortcomings in the IP protection and enforcement regimes of these and other countries addressed in the Special 301 Report,” said Lui Simpson, Senior Vice President for Global Policy at AAP.
“Further, inclusion on the Notorious Markets List can positively affect identified markets and the responsible authorities in the countries in which these problematic sites are located,” continued Simpson. “This out-of-cycle review of notorious markets remains a helpful mechanism through which to address piracy in global markets. AAP welcomes USTR’s continued efforts on this front.”
USTR’s Special 301 report is available here, and its “Notorious Markets” report here.