News

The report targets Russia’s hosting of vKontakte & other illegal sites as a clear example of lax intellectual property laws.

U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, along with U.S. House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, today introduced bipartisan and bicameral trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation, The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (TPA-2015), that puts forth a framework for the negotiation and passage of trade agreements and includes appropriate and effective protections for intellectual property rights. Neil Turkewitz, EVP, International, offered the following comment:

“We congratulate Senators Hatch and Wyden and Congressman Ryan for the introduction of TPA-2015, and for their leadership in seeking to expand economic opportunities for the creative community. The music industry is helping to drive the digital economy, and pirate sites undermine that economy by unfairly competing with legitimate platforms. Securing adherence to the rule of law on a global basis is a prerequisite for advancing our economy and our culture. We hope Congress will move quickly to adopt the proposed TPA legislation, and that a Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement can be concluded under which our trading partners commit to a more robust response to existing impediments to effective protection of creators’ rights.”