wessman
October 14th, 2002, 07:08 PM
Taiwan Rejects US Copyright Extension Demands
from the guido-says-you-should-buy-insurance dept.
posted by michael on Saturday October 12, @00:57 (news)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/11/1948244
An anonymous reader writes "Taiwan has rejected the US's demand to extend copyrights from 50 years to 70 years. Here's the [0]news article on the [1]Mercury News."
Links:
0. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4260499.htm
1. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/
Google News Search:
http://news.google.com/news?q=taiwan+copyright
Taiwan rejects U.S. copyright demands
Posted on Fri, Oct. 11, 2002
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has turned down a U.S. demand on Friday to extend copyrights on works including earlier Walt Disney movies for another 20 years as negotiators on both sides held talks on intellectual property rights.
Taiwan told a delegation led by Joseph Papovich, assistant U.S. trade representative, that it would not extend copyright protection to 70 years from 50 years, a Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs official said.
The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether Robert Frost poems and Mickey Mouse movies made more than 75 years ago should become public property or remain in the hands of their owners for another 20 years.
At issue is the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the exclusive period that artists and corporations can control their creative works by 20 years.
As a result, thousands of well-known works, from the earliest Disney films to the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, were prevented from passing into the public domain. Billions of dollars of entertainment-industry profits are at stake.
``Taiwan is the first country the United States chose to discuss the issue. We need not rush into concession,'' legislator Chen Chi-mei of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) told Reuters by telephone.
Negotiations continued over whether Taiwan should make copyright violation a public offence, Lu Wen-hsiang, deputy director of the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told reporters during a break.
Outside the Board of Foreign Trade where the negotiation was held, dozens of college students protested against the U.S. demand, shouting ``Knowledge can't be monopolised.''
``Why should we be blamed for pursuing knowledge?'' a student protester said on television.
Legislator Chen said Washington has used Taiwan's desire to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States as a bargaining chip.
The Bush administration has not taken an official position on Taiwan's interest in negotiating a free trade zone but a senior administration official said in July Taipei ``has a lot of work to do'' before such an accord would be possible.
Intellectual property right protections and government procurement have been cited as areas on which Taipei must make progress.
Washington, Taiwan's main trading partner and arms supplier, has said the island's failure to protect intellectual property rights is causing hundreds of million dollars damage annually to U.S. recorded music, software and motion picture industries.
Taiwan's intellectual property rights laws are largely in line with international standards, although the entertainment industry has criticised enforcement efforts as pirated music and movies are easily available in the island's night markets.
© 2001 siliconvalley and wire service sources. :sw
from the guido-says-you-should-buy-insurance dept.
posted by michael on Saturday October 12, @00:57 (news)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/11/1948244
An anonymous reader writes "Taiwan has rejected the US's demand to extend copyrights from 50 years to 70 years. Here's the [0]news article on the [1]Mercury News."
Links:
0. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4260499.htm
1. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/
Google News Search:
http://news.google.com/news?q=taiwan+copyright
Taiwan rejects U.S. copyright demands
Posted on Fri, Oct. 11, 2002
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has turned down a U.S. demand on Friday to extend copyrights on works including earlier Walt Disney movies for another 20 years as negotiators on both sides held talks on intellectual property rights.
Taiwan told a delegation led by Joseph Papovich, assistant U.S. trade representative, that it would not extend copyright protection to 70 years from 50 years, a Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs official said.
The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Wednesday whether Robert Frost poems and Mickey Mouse movies made more than 75 years ago should become public property or remain in the hands of their owners for another 20 years.
At issue is the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the exclusive period that artists and corporations can control their creative works by 20 years.
As a result, thousands of well-known works, from the earliest Disney films to the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, were prevented from passing into the public domain. Billions of dollars of entertainment-industry profits are at stake.
``Taiwan is the first country the United States chose to discuss the issue. We need not rush into concession,'' legislator Chen Chi-mei of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) told Reuters by telephone.
Negotiations continued over whether Taiwan should make copyright violation a public offence, Lu Wen-hsiang, deputy director of the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told reporters during a break.
Outside the Board of Foreign Trade where the negotiation was held, dozens of college students protested against the U.S. demand, shouting ``Knowledge can't be monopolised.''
``Why should we be blamed for pursuing knowledge?'' a student protester said on television.
Legislator Chen said Washington has used Taiwan's desire to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States as a bargaining chip.
The Bush administration has not taken an official position on Taiwan's interest in negotiating a free trade zone but a senior administration official said in July Taipei ``has a lot of work to do'' before such an accord would be possible.
Intellectual property right protections and government procurement have been cited as areas on which Taipei must make progress.
Washington, Taiwan's main trading partner and arms supplier, has said the island's failure to protect intellectual property rights is causing hundreds of million dollars damage annually to U.S. recorded music, software and motion picture industries.
Taiwan's intellectual property rights laws are largely in line with international standards, although the entertainment industry has criticised enforcement efforts as pirated music and movies are easily available in the island's night markets.
© 2001 siliconvalley and wire service sources. :sw