Turkey Takes Positive Steps in IPR Enforcement

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000941

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SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD KIPR TU
SUBJECT: Turkey Takes Positive Steps in IPR Enforcement

REF: 2004 Ankara 5497


1. (SBU) Summary: The Ministry of Culture considers
the 2004 copyright legislation, which brought about a
significant fall in street sales of pirated materials
and jail terms for several convicted pirates, to be
successful. The Ministry is now waiting for the Prime
Ministry to approve a new Certificate Regulation, which
will be another important tool for the GOT to control
piracy. In a January meeting with Ambassador, (then)
Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu confirmed the
fall in street sales and the recent court rulings. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) Econoff and Econ Specialist met with Culture
Ministry Copyrights Director General Abdurrahman Celik
on February 15 to discuss the GOT's copyright
enforcement efforts. Celik said that, apart from the
significant fall in street sales of copyrightable goods,
the most important recent development has been
imposition of deterrent sentences in IPR cases in
Ankara. According to Celik, three people have been
sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment and fined TL60
billion (approximately USD 40,000) for disseminating
pirated copies of copyrighted goods. Celik said these
would be model rulings for other IPR cases, and noted
that the judges had used their discretionary power to
assess penalties above the legal minimum.


3. (SBU) Econoff briefed Celik about the WIPO internet
treaties and optical media control legislation. Celik
said that there are a total of 64 licensed recording
facilities in Turkey, and another eight facilities
producing CDs at international standards. Celik
admitted that these 64 facilities posed a threat for
piracy, and would be closed after a new "Certificate
Regulation" enters into force. Celik said the draft
regulation, which is currently at the Prime Ministry,
would require all producers, dealers and distributors of
intellectual and industrial property to obtain
certificates for their operations from the Ministry.
Celik said that following a six-month preparation
period, the Ministry had established a detailed database
of all facilities and automated all its provincial
offices. Celik claimed this regulation would be an
important tool in the Ministry's struggle to curb
piracy.

Interagency Efforts to Combat Piracy
--------------


4. (SBU) Econoff raised Justice Minister Cemil Cicek's
recent press statement on a circular the Justice
Ministry sent to all public prosecutors' offices that
requires prosecutors to notify tax offices about rulings
on IPR cases. Celik said he was aware of this circular,
and another one issued by the Ministry of Finance, both
of which aimed to prosecute convicted pirates for tax
evasion and other financial losses to the GOT. (Note:
This measure was one of the action items the Justice
Ministry announced following a USPTO-sponsored
conference in Ankara in September 2004 --reftel. End
Note.)


5. (U) Celik also noted the Culture Ministry's
cooperation with the Turkish National Police (TNP).
Celik said the Ministry was not only setting aside funds
to award successful operations conducted by TNP, but was
organizing a conference in March for TNP officers
dealing with IPR crimes. The aim of the conference is
to identify deficiencies in IPR enforcement and to form
a nationwide strategy against piracy.


6. (SBU) Comment: The use of deterrent penalities
represents major progress in bolstering the
effectiveness of Turkey's anti-piracy efforts for
copyrighted goods. There also appears for the first
time, to be real Turkish interest in the WIPO Internet
treaties. Both of these advances can be attributed, in
part, to the success of USPTO and Embassy outreach.
Meeting with the Ambassador in January, then Culture and
Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu also raised the recent
piracy convictions, stressing that these were deterrent
penalties. Mumcu opined that the step-penalty system
introduced by last year's legal amendments, in which
sanctions are increased for repeat offenders, is useful
in combating piracy. In the first 9 months of 2004,
2,850 people received administrative fines. Mumcu said
that, if convicted in the future, these people would be
sentenced to imprisonment and large fines. In the
meeting, the Ambassador also raised the importance of
the GOT's joining WIPO Internet treaties to strengthen
IPR protection and establish a favorable environment for
e-commerce. The Minister said the GOT already had joint
studies with universities on preventing internet piracy,
but said he would be willing to make use of the USG
experience on this subject.
Edelman