1818 N STREET, NW, 7TH FLOOR WASHINGTON, DC 20036 TEL (202) 355-7900 ∙ FAX (202) 355-7899 WWW.IIPA.ORG ∙ EMAIL:
[email protected] September 16, 2020 FILED VIA REGULATIONS.GOV–DOCKET USTR–2020-0033 Edward Gresser Chair, Trade Policy Staff Committee Office of the United States Trade Representative 1724 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20508 Re: China’s WTO Compliance – “Request for Comments Concerning China’s Compliance With World Trade Organization (WTO) Commitments” (85 Fed. Reg. 50864, August 18, 2020) To the Trade Policy Staff Committee: The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)—a coalition of five member associations each of which represents a significant segment of the U.S. copyright industries1— appreciates this opportunity to submit these written comments in response to the above-captioned Federal Register Notice on China’s compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. China is a significant market for the creative industries. China’s online marketplace continues to expand, and China now leads the world in cinemas with almost 70,000 movie screens at the end of 2019, most of which support 3D and many of which offer enhanced formats such as IMAX and China Giant Screen. China is now the seventh largest music market, and the fourth largest music streaming market in the world by revenue. Yet China’s market for legitimate content continues to be hampered by piracy, discriminatory and restrictive market access policies, and long-standing unfulfilled international obligations. The ongoing Copyright Law amendment process is vital because a positive outcome would lay the foundation for a successful future for the creative industries in China.