U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economy-wide ... - USITC

Views of Interested Parties
A number of interested parties provided testimony and written submissions to the
Commission on the IPR chapter of the U.S.-Korea FTA. With regard to the copyright
provisions, the Entertainment Industry Coalition for Free Trade (EIC), a group of
entertainment companies and trade associations, and the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) testified at the Commission’s hearing that the infringement of copyrights
on their materials represents the single largest trade barrier that the entertainment industries
face and that enforcement is particularly difficult given the prevalence of broadband access
in Korea. They said that the U.S.-Korea FTA would help to address these problems by
providing high standards of copyright protection and by requiring the parties to ensure strong
enforcement. 112 The EIC and MPAA particularly cited as a “tremendous move forward” the
side letter in which Korea undertakes to issue a policy directive establishing clear
jurisdiction for effective enforcement against online piracy and to prosecute persons who
profit from developing services to induce infringement. 113
In a written submission to the Commission, the IIPA, also representing industries that depend
on copyright protection, stated that if the provisions of the FTA are fully implemented,
increased U.S.-Korea trade in copyright materials with accompanying positive effects on
U.S. employment is likely to be achieved. IIPA added that the copyright-dependent
industries consider the U.S.-Korea FTA to be one of the strongest and most progressive ever
negotiated and expect its value to be substantial given Korea’s large and dynamic
economy. 114
Similarly, Time Warner reported in a written submission to the Commission that access to
the significant media market in Korea has been held back by widespread piracy. Time
Warner stated that implementation of the IPR provisions, and the market access
commitments, is likely to bring significant benefits to U.S. and Korean companies. Time
Warner particularly cited as the important the copyright term extensions, which it said would
support a continuing return on investment on older content that still has market value. 115
With regard to the patent provisions of the IPR chapter, the testimony of the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) cited three provisions as particularly
important: the provision establishing a patent linkage system to prevent patent-infringing
products from gaining market access, the data exclusivity provision, and the provision
allowing for extension of the patent term to compensate for unreasonable delays in the patent
or marketing application process. 116
112 Frazier, “Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement: Benefits to America’s Entertainment Industries,” written
submission to the USITC, June 6, 2007, 5; and Frazier, testimony before the USITC, June 20, 2007, 56–58.
113 Frazier, “Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement: Benefits to America’s Entertainment Industries,” written
submission to the USITC, June 6, 2007, 7.
114 IIPA, “Comments submitted to the U.S. International Trade Commission in inv. TA-2104-24,” written
submission to the USITC, June 25, 2007, 2–3; See also USKFTABC, “Views on the Economic Impact of a
United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement,” written submission to the USITC, June 27, 2007, 7.
115 Time Warner, “Comments of Time Warner, Inc., United State-Korea Free Trade Agreement
Investigation TA-2104-24,” written submission to the USITC, June 21, 2007, 2. The Information Technology
Industry Council (ITI) also notes that the IPR chapter is one of the strongest to be achieved and supports its
provisions. Dawson, testimony before the USITC, June 20, 2007, 69.
116 PhRMA, “PhRMA Statement on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (April 3, 2007),” 3; May,
testimony before the USITC, June 20, 2007, 275–77.
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