China's Passive Role is No Longer an Option

As you walk though any major metropolitan city, street vendors sell knock-offs of famous brand merchandise, such as Rolex watches, Prada shoes, Gucci bags and Louis Vuitton bags for a fraction of their retail prices. While these knock-offs relate primarily to issues regarding trademark infringement, copyright owners are not free from similar piracy, last month, it only took pirates a couple of days to bootleg and sell DVD's of one of the summers most anticipated movies, "The Da Vinci Code." Illegal activity such as this depletes the value of copyright owners' work and decreases their incentive to create.

In 2001, attempting to meet requirements to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), China enacted a host of intellectual property laws. In the last five years, filings of patent applications in China increased 20% per year. Apparently, investors are more willing to invest when they are protected by the intellectual property laws. However, while some progress is being made, most opponents argue that China is still not protecting the rights of intellectual property owners.

China remains the number one source of products which infringe intellectual property rights, costing companies from around the world in excess of $50 billion per year. As China quickly develops into the next world super power, the United States and the rest of the world will continue to demand that China take a more active role in curbing its counterfeiting and piracy. In the latest effort to force China to assume an active role in stopping the piracy of movies, music and software, the United States is threatening to file a complaint in the WTO for inadequate enforcement of copyright protection. While it is unknown what future effects will be created by such a complaint, one can only hope that it increases protection for those that justifiably own intellectual property rights.