Witnesses included Steven Soderbergh, national vice president of the Directors Guild of America; Richard Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios; Michael Miller, international vice president of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Zach Horowitz, president and COO of Universal Music Group; and Timothy Trainer, president of the Global Intellectual Property Strategy Center.
The field hearing was presided over by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Howard Berman.
According to a US Chamber of Commerce blog post by Rob Calia, director of domestic programs for the Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center, the severity of the problem facing copyright owners in the digital age was highlighted just two weeks ago when the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" was illegally posted online, one full month before it was scheduled to be released in theatres.
Calia said: "Especially in these difficult economic times, we must protect and promote the efforts of an industry that relies on keeping the creative juices of our writers and artists flowing. In addition to creating jobs, their efforts help make life more enjoyable and provide some of our most valuable resources for cultural exchanges around the world."
The Chamber outlined several steps that should be taken in fighting copyright piracy, including:
• Fully funding and implementing the PRO-IP Act (PL 110-403) to protect and create jobs in IP-intensive industries.
• Supporting the introduction, passage and enactment of a Customs and Border Protection Reauthorisation bill to better address trafficking in illicit goods.
• Supporting legislative improvements to the USTR's Special 301 process to help deal with other countries that fail to live up to their international IP obligations.
• Concluding negotiations for a substantive and enforceable Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) with major trading partners.
• Engaging Beijing to improve China's IP legal and regulatory regimes through the implementation of new copyright, patent and trademark laws.
• Pursuing reforms on data exclusivity, incremental innovation and optical discs legislation in India.
• Working towards improved copyright enforcement in Russia, as well as the successful implementation of IP reform through Part IV of the country's Civil Code.
