SUCCESS WITH JORDAN COPYRIGHT LAW, CENSORSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001697

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2015
TAGS: KIPR ETRD PREL KTIA JO
SUBJECT: SUCCESS WITH JORDAN COPYRIGHT LAW, CENSORSHIP
FEES, IPR CONFERENCE

REF: A. 04 AMMAN 6508


B. 04 AMMAN 2574 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: CDA DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan's parliament has approved
new copyright legislation, and we expect King
Abdullah to sign it into law soon. Censorship fees
(ref A) are also reportedly to be restructured shortly,
using a formula acceptable to key IPR supporters in
private industry. Finally, a MEPI-sponsored conference
held by the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO)
successfully brought together ten Arab nations to work
on IPR enforcement. These three accomplishments,
combined with a program to enhance IPR awareness among
officials and the public, mark a major step forward for
intellectual property rights in Jordan. END SUMMARY.

Copyright Law Proponents Overcome "Traditional" Lobbyists
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2. (SBU) Since parliament reconvened December 1, GOJ
officials had had to manage the passage of copyright law
amendments through the lower and upper houses and back to
the lower house for final agreement, according to National
Library Director Mahmoun Talhouni. (NOTE: The National
Library is the GOJ focal point on IPR issues and the
location of an IPR enforcement unit. END NOTE) The final
hurdle was passed Feb 15, after a mischievous clause on
"commercial use" was finally stripped from the amendments
package, which the lower house accepted, Talhouni said.
The legislation will now be forwarded to the King for his
signature and will become law 30 days after its publication
in the official gazette.


3. (C) COMMENT: Embassy through repeated queries and
letters to the Prime Minister and two successive GOJ
Industry and Trade ministers, the Justice Minister and the
Culture Minister, had urged speedy passage of these
copyright amendments. The new copyright law is the result
of a few dedicated GOJ officials fighting against a voluble
group of pirates with vested interests. When the copyright
amendments were first discussed last June, the government
was pilloried by MPs for several days (widely covered in
the Arabic press) because of its right under the law to
enter any premises in Jordan to investigate IPR violations.
According to knowledgeable sources, it was those store
owners who stock pirated DVDs and software who led the
charge last summer, making private appeals to their
parliamentary representatives and orchestrating the press
campaign. The Islamic Action Front also emphasized the
effect of the improved copyright law on the "little guy."
Facing these political obstacles, GOJ officials from the
Trade Minister to the Justice Minister to the National
Library Director, did not raise the proposed amendments'
compliance with the Free Trade Agreement, but rather
referred to international commitments and the general
principle of IPR protections. END COMMENT.

Censorship Fees to be Revamped
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4. (SBU) The high censorship fees imposed by the GOJ last
April, which only encouraged more piracy (ref A),will be
reduced dramatically, according to key industry
sources and the Jordan Intellectual Property Association
(JIPA). At mid-February, JIPA's Murad Bushnaq (who is a
leading distributor of Time-Warner products in Jordan)
noted that he had positive talks about fee reductions with
the head of the agency imposing censorship fees, Mr.
Hussein Bani-Hani of the Audiovisual Commission. While the
issue had not been finally settled, Bushnaq said the AV
commission would have a fixed-fee structure that he
described as an "excellent resolution." The fee would be
tiered by the volume of the DVDs or audiocassettes, he said,
noting the fee could range from three dinars to a maximum of
30 dinars for a single title. Under the old percentage
system, there was no upper limit; for example, a shipment
of 1000 DVDs would have cost a censorship fee of more than
USD $850.


5. (C) Bani-Hani is reportedly still consulting with
industry leaders and other government officials. According
to Talhouni, an Investment Committee of the cabinet was
helpful in pushing this issue along. (COMMENT: Charge
raised this issue with the Ministers of Culture, Finance,
and Industry and Trade, following up with a letter, and
Emboffs had called on Bani-Hani to reiterate the importance
of rationalizing censorship fees. END COMMENT.)

MEPI-supported IPR Conference; Public Awareness Campaign
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6. (SBU) A USPTO-sponsored regional conference on border
enforcement of IPR, held in Amman February 15-16 was
praised by the JIPA chief operating officer who attended
the conference. Customs officials from ten Arab nations
attended, including ten Jordanian enforcement officials.
A number of presenters from the private sector -- either
affected industries or attorneys -- also attended. The
JIPA representative said that the public-private mix
sparked lively debates and constructive suggestions on
the best way forward with IPR enforcement. Nine other
nations -- from Morocco to Oman -- turned to Jordan to
explain its experience in IPR enforcement, she noted.
In addition to National Customs and Aqaba Special Zone
customs officials, GOJ representation included the
National Library enforcement team and the Customs
Anti-Smuggling Unit.


7. (SBU) National Library Director Talhouni noted that he
would soon be working full tilt on an IPR public awareness
campaign with the USAID-funded Achievement of
Market-Friendly Initiatives and Results Program (AMIR)
program. He was hoping to recruit more of the writers,
artists, and musicians who remained silent during the
parliamentary debate on the copyright law, he said. Part
of the problem was Jordanian technical experts' inability
to communicate clearly with even educated generalists, he
noted: one parliamentary committee declined to approve
protections of "audio digital" transmissions of
performances because the members did not know what the term
meant. After Talhouni produced an audio engineer to
explain, the amendment passed. The public awareness
campaign Talhouni is launching also includes workshops and
seminars for the legal and judicial community, many under
the sponsorship of USAID. Additionally, USAID has signed
an interagency agreement with the USPTO for direct
technical assistance in IPR enforcement.

Jordan IPR Protections Strengthened
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8. (SBU) COMMENT: Between success in parliament and in
reversing fees harmful to IPR, and with the increasing
influence of market-friendly groups such as the Investment
Committee, the GOJ is demonstrating a strong commitment to
IPR protections, even in the face of lobbyists for the old
ways of doing things. Jordan also continues to support
IPR efforts at the regional level. Next steps here include
concentrating on implementing patents and trademarks
conventions - the AMIR program has devised a program this
spring to enhance those measures. In addition, Jordan is
sending four officials from its Patents and Marks Office to
the USPTO Visiting Scholars workshop this April.
HALE