Groups urge action on China copyright piracy

17 Jun 2002

(Reuter) U.S. business groups urged the Clinton administration to impose trade sanctions against China for violating an agreement to stamp out rampant piracy of U.S. copyrights and other intellectual property. In filings to U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, the groups said China was failing to live up to the February 1995 agreement.

The groups were the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), representing publishing, computer software, and film industries, and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), representing 160 international corporations. The agreement called on China to crack down on widespread piracy of U.S. copyrighted and trademarked goods and open its markets to more legitimate products. Despite the accord and some highly publicized raids against counterfeit operations, U.S. businesses lost more than $1.8 billion to Chinese counterfeiters last year, IIPA said.