The Effects of World Trade Organization Case DS362 on Audiovisual Media Piracy in China

摘要

Although the USTR touted the outcome of case DS362 as a victory, subsequent commentaries denoted the victory as being "hollow", or "totally meaningless". On the macro level, the negative fallout from this case in other trade and business may well mean this case turns out to be a pyrrhic victory for the United States. This case addressed issues that do not influence piracy levels in a significant matter. Updating the CCL would not bring about an enlargement of legitimate product market share. Removing criminal thresholds would not suffice to vitalise China's enforcement apparatus, nor remove it from the quandary of protecting private rights through public means. Efficient enforcement would imply that rights-holders have an effective judiciary to rely on, but also bear part of the enforcement cost. This requires steps in Chinese legal culture, but also a greater effort from the part of rights-holders, to actively pursue ways and means to enforce their copyrights in China. And even if this would succeed, it would leave the potential marketplace for pirated products undamaged.