JORDAN COPYRIGHT LAW: WIPO COMPLIANCE A FOUNDATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007972

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

EB/TPP/MTA/IPC FOR S. WILSON
PASS TO USTR FOR E. SAUMS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD KIPR KTIA PREL JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN COPYRIGHT LAW: WIPO COMPLIANCE A FOUNDATION
FOR CLOSER CONFORMITY WITH FTA


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. FOR USG GOVERNMENT USE ONLY.
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.


1. (U) This is an action request. See last para.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ministry of Industry and Trade contacts
confirmed that the Government of Jordan (GOJ) cabinet has
approved two WIPO internet treaties and expects the
notification process to WIPO to be completed by the end of
the year. Amendments intended to bring Jordan's Copyright
Law into conformity with the two treaties are before the
Parliament, which should take action before the end of
January. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade
Mohammad Halaiqa has asked for a review of the law and the
FTA, to decide on other possible amendments to the copyright
law needed to bring the law into closer conformity with the
U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Ministry of Trade
officials asserted their intent to meet Jordan's commitments
under the FTA. END SUMMARY.

WIPO Treaties on Track
--------------


3. (SBU) Ministry of Industry and Trade Assistant Director
of Foreign Trade Policy Maha Ali told Econoff December 8 that
the GOJ cabinet approved the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and
the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),known as
the internet treaties, before the Eid Al-Fitr holiday in late
November. The treaties are in the Royal Court awaiting King
Abdullah's approval, she noted. Although she stressed that
she could not speak for the Royal Court, Ali said that the
treaties would likely be given consideration very soon. She
confirmed that, if approved, the two treaties would be
notified to WIPO by the end of the year. At the same time
the treaties would also go to Parliament for ratification
before being sent to the MFA for final processing and deposit
of the instruments of ratification. A number of officials
acknowledged that the FTA specifies that date for accession
and deposit of the WCT and WPPT on December 17, but noted
that the new elections, the formation of a government and a
cabinet reshuffle had delayed the progress of the measure.
At the same time, senior MOIT official Amer Hadidi said that
the internet treaties and the Copyright Law would be taken up
by the government as a priority.


4. (SBU) Regarding the amended Copyright Law, which has
been in effect as a provisional law since June 16, 2003,
National Library Director Mamoun Talhouni noted that it
included improvements developed through a careful review of
the 1999 law by an expert provided by WIPO headquarters in
Geneva. (NOTE: Provisional laws adopted by the Cabinet in
the period between the old parliament's dissolution and the
new parliament's election last June 17 remain in effect until
adopted, rejected, or amended. END NOTE.) Talhouni asserted
that the law appeared to meet the minimal standards set out
in the WCT and the WPPT and, in certain instances, the
additional amendments seemed to be stronger than those
standards. The WIPO-supported review had been completed in
May, 2002, he noted. It took about a year for the amended
Copyright Law to work its way through the government before
being passed as a temporary law.

WIPO Amendments Look Good, But Not A Shoe-In
--------------


5. (SBU) In order to become the law of the land with
Parliament's full blessing, the amended Copyright Law still
has to pass through a parliamentary review that Talhouni
deemed "sensitive." Talhouni vaguely alluded to private
sector concerns from interest groups that have benefited from
loose enforcement of copyright. According to a respected IPR
lawyer in Amman, Nancy Dababneh of International Business
Legal Associates, (protect source) one serious concern is the
simple "presumption of authorship" concept. A lack of
education among the general public and lawmakers has led
many, for example, to question that the creation of works
during employment that relate to a business's activities
should be the property of the employer, she said. The
WIPO-conforming amendments will likely be considered before
the end of January, Talhouni said, expressing the hope that
they would pass.

FTA Commitments
--------------


6. (SBU) Turning to the GOJ's commitments in the FTA,
Talhouni noted that accession to the internet treaties and
corresponding amendments to the Copyright Law were a major
achievement. "I thought we did what we had to do," to
conform to the FTA, he said, noting that he relied on the
WIPO-supported expert. He termed certain amendments of the
law "strong", such as a new article banning circumvention
measures that disable IPR protections (Article 55 of the
Copyright Law). Noting that it was not an official USG
position, Econoff cited a recent private review of the GOJ
Copyright Law with a Jordanian IPR lawyer (Dababneh -
protect),in which about ten parts of the law appeared to the
Jordanian lawyer to be imprecise or incomplete when compared
to the FTA requirements. (NOTE: We shared with Dababneh many
of the main points of a recent IIPA analysis of the Copyright
Law, without identifying the source. END NOTE.) Talhouni
asserted that the matter required further review by experts.
If provisions of the Copyright Law are not adequate to meet
FTA obligations as agreed between the two governments, he
said, then he would seek GOJ cooperation to reach those
objectives agreed to by both parties. MOIT's Hadidi was more
direct, asserting that the GOJ would seek ways to meet all of
its FTA commitments regarding IPR, including copyright.
(COMMENT: The National Library formerly reported to the
Minister of Culture, which has been abolished. The NL must
now answer to the MOIT, and will likely adopt a more
aggressive approach to solving trade-related problems. END
COMMENT.)


7. (SBU) Regarding enforcement, Talhouni noted that the
National Library brought 308 IPR infringement cases in 2003
through November 24, breaking the 2002 record of 297 cases.
Most of these cases were for selling pirated works, he noted.
Working with police, the National Library enforcement units
have been able to use a wide variety of criminal law measures
to seek out illegal producers and vendors and to confiscate
evidence such as pirated DVDs. This aggressive enforcement
activity has raised the ire of local populist journalists,
who print articles slanted against the enforcers, Dababneh
noted. In addition, the National Library is running out of
space to store the evidence, Talhouni has noted.

Legislative Timing an Issue
--------------


8. (SBU) For now, the National Library would try to bring
the current set of amendments to conclusion in Parliament,
Talhouni noted. In the meantime, in parallel with the
efforts there, the National Library would recommend to its
parent Ministry of Industry and Trade to review the Copyright
Law and develop any amendments needed to bring it into closer
conformity with the FTA. Talhouni was confident that, given
the proper technical inputs, a National Library-Trade
Ministry team could pull together any required amendments to
support the FTA IPR obligations and to propose them to the
cabinet. Hadidi emphasized that the review would happen
quickly and that the ministry would propose a timetable for
the potential amendments as soon as possible. Hadidi also
asked to know what the U.S. government's priorities were
regarding copyright matters.

Jordan Appears Committed to Taking Next Steps
--------------


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Dababneh's review of the Copyright Law
and the FTA shows that of roughly ten problem areas
identified by IIPA, perhaps about five would need to be
handled in amendments to the law and the rest through
amendments to GOJ regulations or through other measures such
as the application of other laws already on the books or
through clarifications about meaning or intent in the law.


10. (SBU) We are reassured by the commitments made by
Talhouni and Hadidi. On the plus side, a growing core of
businesses that benefit from strong IPR protections -- the IT
industry, pharmaceuticals, legitimate DVD rental stores --
are pulling together to promote IPR and would be useful
allies to secure any needed changes to the Copyright Law.


11. (SBU) All indications are that the GOJ is committed to
taking the steps necessary to live up to its IPR commitments
in the FTA.


12. (SBU) Nonetheless, we see a need to respond to the
GOJ's request to outline specific USG concerns regarding the
Copyright Law and, in particular, our priorities. For
example, the GOJ just doubled the penalties for infringement.
What importance does the U.S. attach to increasing the
penalties again, versus securing fundamentals such as a
better definition of "presumed authorship"?) END COMMENT.


13. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Embassy seeks Department's
guidance on the USG approach to Jordan's amended Copyright
Law, our views on a review of the law for consistency with
FTA obligations, and the priorities the USG attaches to the
various IPR legal and enforcement issues raised. In addition
to addressing this issue with the National Library's
Talhouni, who has technical responsibility for enforcing
copyright protections, we will use this guidance with Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Halaiqa,
who has overall responsibility for managing Jordan's trade
relationship with the United States. The subject should also
be on the agenda of the upcoming U.S.-Jordan FTA Joint
Committee meeting.
HALE