WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers labeled China and Russia the world’s two biggest copyright thieves on Thursday, just a few days before the Bush administration hosts Chinese officials for high-level talks.
The annual list released by the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus identified China and Russia as high-priority countries because of piracy that costs U.S. entertainment and software companies billions of dollars in lost sales per year.
The lawmakers identified Canada, Malaysia and Mexico as priority countries, a lower tier. As U.S. authorities have cracked down on illegal camcording of movies, a lot of that activity has moved north to Canada, industry officials said.
Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, said rampant piracy around the world was a serious problem for U.S. copyright industries, which contribute more than $800 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
“Piracy in those countries highlighted today by the (lawmakers) is particularly problematic,” Glickman said in a statement.
The Bush administration has filed a pair of complaints against China for piracy at the
World Trade Organization and is expected to raise U.S. concerns about the issue at a meeting with Chinese officials next week in Washington.The International Intellectual Property Alliance, which represents U.S. movie, software, music and book companies, estimates its members lost $2.21 billion in sales in China last year because of piracy.The tally for Russia was slightly lower at $2.18 billion. Russia’s failure to rein in piracy is one of the biggest obstacles to finishing talks with the United States, the EU and others on joining the World Trade Organization.
