WASHINGTON -- The co-chairs of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IAPC) today released their “Priority Country List” today highlighting some of the most pressing problems confronting the American creative community in global commerce.

Joining China and Russia in “the ignominious three” is Canada which, notwithstanding numerous public announcements, has failed to join the rest of its partners in the developed world in modernizing its copyright laws to address the challenges -- and to seize the opportunities -- of the digital age.

“China continues to rely upon an administrative enforcement system that has proven to be ineffective in addressing copyright theft,” said Neil Turkewitz, Executive Vice President, International, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). “That alongside its maintenance of market access restrictions that prevent the full maturation of a healthy cultural marketplace has landed it on this list once again. Russia’s inclusion reflects its continued lack of compliance with the intellectual property agreement reached with the USTR, referred to as ‘the roadmap to WTO accession.’ Problems remain particularly acute in the area of Internet piracy and the operation of rogue collecting societies.”

“RIAA salutes the work of the IAPC, and in particular the IAPC co-chairs, Senators Biden and Smith, and Representatives Schiff and Goodlatte, for their efforts to shine a light on the practices of some of America’s trading partners where they fail to meet international standards. These members of Congress completely understand that America’s competitive edge rests heavily upon our ability to fuel creativity, ingenuity and technological progress, and that this ability is dependent upon effective global intellectual property protection.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The IAPC also noted particular concerns in Mexico where piracy continues to dominate the landscape, and also and in Spain and Greece who have fallen behind European partners in the fight against piracy and where significant impediments to effective copyright protection persist -- both in the online and physical environment.

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