Industry Criticizes Poor IP Protections, Outstanding Debt in AGOA Comments
A South African copyright bill, proposed in late July, would likely violate the country’s commitments to the World Trade Organization’s primary intellectual property agreement, and the U.S. should factor that into its annual African Growth and Opportunity Act annual review,…
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said the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) in comments (here) it recently submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The bill could “decimate copyright protections in South Africa” by expanding “fair-use” policies, among other elements of the legislation, said the group. Copyright violations remain rampant throughout Africa, the group said in calling on USTR to require AGOA beneficiaries to submit a report on the conditions of their copyright protections and plans for future changes. The IIPA applauded recent moves to strengthen those protections in Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. In other comments, a lawyer representing the British-American company COMMISIMPEX complained of the Republic of the Congo’s refusal to pay owed debt (here). A group of civil society organizations also praised AGOA, and urged African commitments to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and increased textile trade (here). The comments were due on Sept. 16 (see 1508130007), and those three comments are the only ones so far made public.