On June 22, the Obama Administration issued the nation's first Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. Creation of the plan, drafted under the auspices of the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel, was required by the PRO IP Act (Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act), passed in 2008. Vice President Joe Biden announced the Plan at a press conference that also included U.S. IPEC Espinel, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Department of Homeland
Security Janet Napolitano and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk.
While the bulk of the Plan consists of 33 proposals for improving enforcement of intellectual property laws by U.S. law enforcement and government agencies, some of the Plan has direct relevance to ASCAP's mission of ensuring its members receive fair compensation for performances of their musical works.
The Plan represents a strong affirmation that protection of intellectual property is critical to America's economic future. The Plan notes that "Strong enforcement of intellectual property rights is an essential part of the Administration's efforts to promote innovation and ensure that the U.S. is a global leader in creative and innovative industries." The plan also notes that rampant Internet infringement "is a growing problem that undermines our national security, particularly our national economic security."
As required by the PRO IP Act, the Plan focuses mostly on coordination and improvement of intellectual property enforcement efforts by law enforcement agencies. However, it does propose several initiatives that may be helpful to ASCAP's efforts to ensure Internet services pay fair compensation for the performance of musical works. The Plan states that the U.S. Government will work with the private sector to develop a comprehensive plan to address infringement by foreign websites and web services, many of whose infringements may involve unlicensed performance of our members' musical works. The Plan also demonstrates a clear understanding that facilitators of Internet infringement, including Internet service providers, advertising brokers, payment processors and search engines, must become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. To this point, the Plan not only encourages cooperative efforts within the business community, but clearly states "the Administration will pursue additional solutions to the problems associated with Internet piracy".
The Plan states that "[t]he IPEC will initiate and coordinate a process, working with Federal agencies, to review existing laws-whether they impose criminal and/or civil liability-to ensure that they are effectively reaching the appropriate range of infringing conduct, including any problems or gaps in scope due to changes in technologies used by infringers.". While this legislative review is focused on legal gaps related to Internet infringement, ASCAP will work to ensure the review includes issues related to devaluation of its members' rights in the Internet environment.
