A group of American copyright trade associations has asked the US to put India, on its 'Priority Watch List' for intellectual property violations.
A group of American copyright trade associations has asked the US to put India, along with a dozen other nations including Pakistan and China, on its 'Priority Watch List' for intellectual property violations.
The recommendation has been made by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) - a coalition of seven trade associations representing American copyright-based industries - to the office of US Trade Representative.
The 13 countries, which have been recommended by the IIPA to be placed in 'Priority Watch List' in 2009, include Argentina, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and Thailand.
In its report on India to the USTR, the IIPA has said that "piracy, physical, Internet and over mobile devices worsened in 2008".
"With the US economy shedding jobs at an alarming rate, our government needs to redouble it efforts to stem massive global theft of US-copyrighted works in physical form and on the Internet," IIPA said in a statement.
"Piracy causes significant economic losses to our country, undermining industries and companies that historically have generated new jobs at a rate two to three times greater than that of our economy as a whole," it noted.
According to IIPA, India suffered an estimated trade loss of 1.09 billion dollars in 2008 due to copyright piracy. The same stood at 1.19 billion dollars in the year-ago period.
It also pointed out that in India, "while pockets of some progress can be in the enforcement system, it remains ineffective to deter piracy".
Placing a trading partner country of the US under the 'watch list' indicates that there are particular problems with respect to intellectual property rights protection, enforcement or market access for people relying on IP.
Further, nations coming under the 'Priority Watch List' would be the main focus of bilateral attention related to the problematic areas.
The member associations of the Washington-based IIPA represent more than 1,900 US companies producing and distributing materials protected by copyright laws worldwide including computer and entertainment software, theatrical films, television programmes and music.
The seven associations that are part of IIPA are Association of American Publishers, Business Software Alliance, Entertainment Software Association, Independent Film & Television Alliance, Motion Picture of America, National Music Publishers' Association and Recording Industry Association of America.
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