Selon l’International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA), une organisation représentant les intérêts économiques et industriels américains, les éditeurs de logiciels américains ont perdu 511 millions de dollars à cause de la contrefaçon de logiciels au Canada.
Ce recensement nous provient de l’étude annuelle des pires marchés mondiaux pour les biens contrefaits. En effet, le Canada devrait être placé au rang du “Special 301 Priority Watch List” (liste sous surveillance prioritaire de la section 301) pour l’année 2008. Le Canada serait un pays où la contrefaçon règne, tels que L’Argentine, l’Égypte, l’inde, la Chine la Fédération russe et la Thailande.
Nous avons déjà parlé de ce rapport l’an dernier, ici puis ici. Ce rapport annuel provient d’une disposition législative qui demande à l’Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), le ministre de l’Industrie aux USA, d’identifier les pays qui posent préjudice aux entreprises du pays de l’oncle Sam de par leurs pratiques en matière de propriété intellectuelle. Comme le précise le site de l’USTR :
Pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (enacted in 1994) (“Special 301”), under Special 301 provisions, USTR must identify those countries that deny adequate and effective protection for IPR or deny fair and equitable market access for persons that rely on intellectual property protection. Countries that have the most onerous or egregious acts, policies, or practices and whose acts, policies, or practices have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on the relevant U.S. products must be designated as “Priority Foreign Countries.”
Priority Foreign Countries are potentially subject to an investigation under the Section 301 provisions of the Trade Act of 1974. USTR may not designate a country as a Priority Foreign Country if it is entering into good faith negotiations or making significant progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations to provide adequate and effective protection of IPR.
Spécifiquement, voici ce que l’IIPA demande au USTR de considérer à propos du Canada :
Almost alone among developed economies in the OECD, Canada has taken no meaningful steps toward modernizing its copyright law to meet the new global minimum standards of the WIPO Internet Treaties, which Canada signed more than a decade ago. Its enforcement record also falls far short of what should be expected of our neighbor and largest trading partner, with ineffective border controls, insufficient enforcement resources, inadequate enforcement policies, and a seeming unwillingness to impose deterrent penalties on pirates. In 2007, parliamentary leadership and even the government itself, at the highest levels, acknowledged many of these deficiencies, and the government listed copyright reform among its top legislative priorities. But by the end of the year, these encouraging statements produced almost nothing; apart from the welcome enactment and enforcement of a federal criminal law against unauthorized camcording, the piracy picture in Canada is as bleak as it was a year ago. Only two of America’s top 10 trading partners (China and South Korea) surpass Canada’s record of appearing continuously on a Special 301 list every year since 1995.1 To underscore U.S. insistence that Canada finally take action to address the serious piracy problem it has allowed to develop just across our border, and that it bring its outmoded laws up to contemporary international standards, IIPA recommends that Canada be elevated to the Priority Watch List in 2008.
Actions Which the Canadian Government Should Take in 2008:
Copyright Law Reform
• Enact legislation bringing Canada into full compliance with the WIPO “Internet” Treaties (WIPO Copyright Treaty [WCT] and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty [WPPT])
• Create strong legal incentives for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to cooperate with copyright owners in combating online piracy
• Amend the Copyright Act to clarify the scope of the private copying exception for sound recordings
• Amend the Copyright Act to clarify liability for those who knowingly facilitate, encourage or contribute to infringement (such as illicit file-sharing services)
Enforcement
• Make legislative, regulatory or administrative changes necessary to empower customs officials to make ex officio seizures of counterfeit and pirate product at the border without a court order
• Increase resources devoted to anti-piracy enforcement both at the border and within Canada
• Direct the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), and Crown prosecutors to give high priority to intellectual property rights enforcement, including against retail piracy and imports of pirated products, and to seek deterrent penalties against those convicted of these crimes
Constatez précédemment la liste d’épicerie des dispositions qui doivent changer pour que les entreprises américaines puissent reigner en maître sur nos marchés créatifs et culturels. Pour une critique de ces dispositions, nous vous proposons l’excellent carnet du professeur Sam Trosow, co-auteur d’un récent livre à propos du droit d’auteur canadien. Par ailleurs, le site de CBC, le côté anglophone de notre diffuseur national, propose un article sur le sujet.
