Mitigating the Impact of Intellectual Property Theft and Counterfeiting

usdoj.gov, Sep 01, 2005

Protecting intellectual property rights is an important part of the Department of Justice's mission. IP industries represent the fastest growing sector of the American economic engine. IP industries contribute approximately 5% to our Gross Domestic Product, having more than doubled in size in the last 25 years. These companies employ millions of people in high-paying jobs. The Business Software Alliance estimates that the United States software industry supplies 70% of the world's demand for legitimate software products. The American movie industry has a positive trade balance with every other nation around the world. American music and games continue to be as popular abroad as they are at home. Indeed, it would be difficult to overstate the importance of intellectual property rights to the continued economic well-being of the United States.

The digital era, in which we all live, provides intellectual property rights holders with unprecedented opportunities to distribute their works to a worldwide audience. Unfortunately, these same technologies that provide the benefits of increased public exposure and access to protected works also have a down side. They have greatly expanded the opportunity to commit piracy and widespread copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting. Millions of copyrighted songs and hundreds of thousands of copyrighted movies are illegally copied every day. Those who create software and games suffer significant losses from illegal copying. Technology is also being misused by trademark counterfeiters who create near perfect or perfect replicas of well known trademarks and append them to shabby knock-offs. In many instances, resourceful criminals use technology to violate both trademark and copyright, creating and selling products, such as software, which to the average consumer appear legitimate when in fact they are not.

For almost 100 years, the United States has recognized a limited, though important, role for the criminal law enforcement with regard to intellectual property rights. The vast majority of intellectual property rights enforcement in the United States has always been, and should remain, civil in nature. For the most part, property rights holders are capable of enforcing their intellectual property rights through civil law suits, and law enforcement authorities must be careful about how they utilize scarce resources in the post-September 11th era. However, where the level of piracy is particularly egregious, where public health and safety are put at risk, or where civil remedies fail to adequately deter illegal conduct, we believe that criminal enforcement to protect intellectual property rights is appropriate.