News

4^th May 2021 – The European Commission has published its EU Priority Countries Report (here) in order to strengthen the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in countries outside of the European Union. 

The report identifies “priority countries” in which the state of IPR protection gives rise to the greatest level of concern and where deficiencies are deemed to cause the greatest economic harm to EU interests. Its aim is to focus the efforts and resources of the European Commission on improving the environment for IPR worldwide.

Commenting on the publication of the report, IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore, said:

“The firm enforcement of fair intellectual property rights is the foundation on which any creative sector is built. Governments of emerging economies could accelerate their growth if they get this approach right.

“We appreciate that the Commission has picked up our concerns in a number of countries, such as the problematic section 31D statutory licence in India, and Brazil’s failure to ratify the WIPO Treaties. Furthermore, we welcome the fact that ineffective online enforcement is raised as a problem in several countries from Ukraine to Nigeria.

“We note that the US Government has also published its Special 301 Report (here), which examines the adequacy and effectiveness of U.S. trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, and echoes these concerns, for example in India, China and Ukraine.

“While we recognise the positive aspects of EU’s report, certain countries in which there are significant issues facing the industry – such as South Africa and Taiwan – have not been included. We will continue our work to improve the situation in these countries and to call for support from the Commission in the future.     

“We hope that these reports will raise awareness of the deficiencies in IPR protection in these countries and support actions to improve the situation for the benefit of the whole music community worldwide.”  

ENDS