Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05COLOMBO816
2005-05-02 03:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

GSL IPR Enforcement Continues, Expands;

Tags:  ECON EFIN KIPR OTRA CE ECONOMICS 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000816 

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS USTR FOR G. BLUE AND JROSENBAUM

STATE FOR SA/INS

GENEVA PASS USTR

E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN KIPR OTRA CE ECONOMICS
SUBJECT: GSL IPR Enforcement Continues, Expands;
Opportunities for Continued Advocacy and Training

REF: (a) 04 Colombo 001971 (b) 04 Colombo 42798

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000816

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS USTR FOR G. BLUE AND JROSENBAUM

STATE FOR SA/INS

GENEVA PASS USTR

E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN KIPR OTRA CE ECONOMICS
SUBJECT: GSL IPR Enforcement Continues, Expands;
Opportunities for Continued Advocacy and Training

REF: (a) 04 Colombo 001971 (b) 04 Colombo 42798


1. Summary: Sri Lankan courts recently convicted three
stores in Colombo for IPR violations, following a major
police crackdown on illegal music and video stores. The
raids were carried out as a result of complaints made by a
leading local agent of international movie and video
recordings. Sri Lanka Customs has also detected several
suspected consignments of VCD/DVDs. There have been other
moves to enforce the newly-enacted IPR law. End Summary.

Police raid
--------------


2. On February 17, three magistrates issued a total of 16
search warrants to the Police Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) ordering them to raid 16 different illegal
vendors of CDs, VCDs and DVDs. The warrants were issued in
response to an application made by MEntertainment, the
local representative of several internationally-recognized
movie and song producers including Sony Music, Columbia
Pictures, Epic Records, Universal Music, Mercury, Virgin,
Capitol, EMI, RPG, Warner Bros. and Miramax. The police
raids found 14 stores selling pirated products, while two
closed before the arrival of police. So far, three vendors
have pleaded guilty and have come to a settlement by
agreeing to stop the sale of counterfeit products. These
vendors represent some of the big names in the music trade
in Colombo and their promise to end the sale of pirated
music/movies could help boost the legal market
substantially. The counterfeit products were confiscated
and are to be destroyed. The court cases against other
vendors will come up for hearing in the next few weeks.


3. During the past six months, Sri Lanka Customs' Special
Investigation Bureau has also detained three shipments of
suspected pirated VCD/DVDs, which came as passenger baggage
on a commercial flight. The detained goods consist of
Tamil music and English/Tamil/Hindi movies. Sri Lanka
Customs has recently contacted MEntertainment seeking their
assistance in identifying these products. MEntertainment
told EconFSN that this is a commendable step as it is the
first time the company has been contacted by the Sri Lanka

Customs regarding the possible violation of their rights.


4. The first major copyright infringement case in Sri
Lanka, involving a Malaysian owned illegal CD production
facility is still pending in courts (Ref A). The copyright
owners are waiting for the Police to file indictment. In
another case, a Colombo police station raided a CD
duplication operation, which illegally copied a range of
local and international music and movies. This operator
had used multiple CD burners for copying. According to
MEntertainment, Warner, Universal, and Walt Disney were
some of the labels duplicated in this operation.
Investigations are continuing.

Counterfeit Goods Abound
--------------


5. Piracy and counterfeit trade are also found in several
other consumer good areas, although to a lesser extent,
except for software piracy, which is rampant. For
instance, recently Polo/Ralph Lauren successfully sued a
local company for copyright infringement and selling
counterfeit products over the internet. Victoria's Secret
(VS) is also working with local Police and Customs to
prevent the shipment of fake VS products from Sri Lanka.
Agents for US manufacturers such as Procter and Gamble,
Energizer batteries, and Gillete have also complained of
piracy.

Pirates form an association
--------------


6. In response to the recent police crackdown, counterfeit
music and movie vendors have formed a society to fight for
their rights. They argue that over 50,000 families are
dependent on the pirate music industry and they will lose
their livelihoods due to IPR enforcement. The association
called for a meeting in February and decided to appoint a
lawyer to fight for their rights. Meanwhile, following the
raids, newspapers carried a few articles on IPR protection.
While some of the writers supported IPR protection, at
least one article argued against the protection of rights
of international companies. The writer argued that Sri
Lanka, as a developing country, could not afford to protect
the rights of international companies.

Right Owners are proactive
--------------

7. Following the recent raids, representatives of the
International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
and the IFPI affiliated Indian Music Industry Association
(IMI) visited Sri Lanka. Their visit was significant as
together they represent all imported music to Sri Lanka
(English and Hindi). According to IFPI, the levels of
piracy of international and local artists are growing at an
alarming rate in Sri Lanka. Most pirated goods originate
from Pakistan. IFPI met with Police and the National
Intellectual Property Office and congratulated them on
recent enforcement actions and urged them to continue with
these efforts. Further, they highlighted benefits of IPR
protection to promote investment and trade and urged the
authorities to investigate and prosecute violators in a
timely manner. The two music industry representatives also
held a press conference to highlight the importance of IPR
protection for investment and business success. The raids
and the IFPI/IMI press conference received wide publicity
both in the print media and T.V.

Police Commercial Crimes Unit
--------------


8. Much of the credit for recent actions to protect
copyrights and trade marks should go to the Commercial
Crimes Unit (CCU) of the CID. The recently-established CCU
is responsible for combating all forms of commercial crimes
including internet crime, IPR violations, bank and credit
card frauds. The unit is understaffed, but has taken firm
steps against pirates. The IFPI and US Customs have
provided training on IPR law enforcement to this unit.

US Embassy IPR Agenda
--------------


9. The Embassy, along with key industry players including
the IFPI, continues to lobby the government to improve Sri
Lanka's IPR regime. During the past year, the Embassy has
been lobbying key government ministries and agency heads,
at meetings and in writing, to bring to their attention the
need to resolve IPR cases in a timely manner. The Embassy
assisted visiting industry representatives including IFPI
and Microsoft to meet with Police, Customs, and National
Intellectual Property Office to discuss enforcement. IFPI
and Microsoft have offered advice regarding investigation
methodologies especially with regard to the case involving
the CD production facility. The Embassy also facilitated
an International visitor program for six Sri Lankan IPR
legal specialists from the attorney general's office,
judiciary and private bar. The Embassy also works with the
Amcham-convened IPR working group representing US right-
holders. The Embassy and the working group are hoping to
prepare a manual of product and right holders information
to help customs and police to identify illegal products.
The group is also exploring the possibility of setting up a
help desk to facilitate Customs and Police detections.
USPTO/IIPI have also offered to conduct an enforcement-
training program.


10. While the Government agencies, especially the Police,
have taken commendable steps to enforce the new IPR law,
the police and customs need further assistance to improve
their expertise in identification, enforcement, and
prosecution. The Judiciary, especially judges in the
magistrate courts of Colombo, also needs improved IPR
awareness. Some of the investigations have slowed due to
lack of expertise in these different institutions.
Therefore, a consistent push for enforcement will be needed
as well as more training of enforcement agencies in the
sophisticated methodologies used for piracy.

Entwistle