US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2277

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002277 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE - SWILSON/JURBAN AND EUR/SE DEPT 
PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES 
DEPT PASS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FOR STEPP 
DEPT PASS USPTO FOR JURBAN AND EWU 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO AND JBOGER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, TU, USTR 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL 301: Update on Copyright/Trademark 
Protection 
 
REF:  (A) Ankara 1652 
 
(B) Sirotic/Urban Email 4/14/05 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. (SBU) The GOT reports a sharp rise in seizure of 
pirated materials in 2004, along with other measures 
supporting copyright protection.  Our principal film 
industry anti-piracy contact seems relatively upbeat 
about IP protection, but trademark owners, publishers 
and the software representative with whom we spoke are 
much less sanguine.  All are waiting to see whether the 
new Culture and Tourism Minister will be as interested 
in and supportive of intellectual property rights as his 
predecessor.  Several industry groups expressed interest 
in collaborating with the USG on training programs.  End 
Summary. 
 
Copyright - Seizures Up Sharply in 2004 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MOCT) 
prepared a response (in Turkish) to the International 
Intellectual Property Association (IIPA) Special 301 
submission, which reports serious problems with book and 
optical media piracy as well as with enforcement.  The 
response describes legislation, regulatory and 
enforcement activity, and other efforts to improve IP 
protection, including: 
 
-- Seizure of nearly 2.5 million books, CD/VCD/DVDs, and 
video and tape cassettes in 2004, a 79 percent increase 
on 2003.  Over 2 million CDs and VCDs were confiscated 
and 3824 suspects were arrested in 2844 raids in 2004. 
Note:  These figures are significantly higher than those 
reported in the recently-issued Investor Advisory 
Council (IAC) report (reftel).  End Note. 
 
-- "Sui generis" protection for databases; 
 
-- New training seminars for the police and provincial 
MOCT directorates; 
 
-- Salary bonuses for law enforcement officers who work 
overtime in the IPR inspection commissions in large 
cities; 
 
-- A joint project with the EU on "Implementation and 
Efficient Enforcement of IPR Legislation," for which the 
EU has allocated EUR2.7 million. 
 
3. (U) MOCT reports that it is developing new 
regulations on registration procedures and on 
renting/lending copyright material. 
 
Film Industry Rep Upbeat on GOT's Anti-Piracy Efforts 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
4. (U) The Director General of AMPEC, an Motion Picture 
Association affiliate, told us April 7 that she was 
pleased with recent developments in enforcement, 
particularly a drop in the rate of film piracy in 
Istanbul to about half, down from 80 percent.  Although 
the justice system has yet to implement prison sentences 
(cases with a sentence of imprisonment are being 
appealed), the courts have handed down stiff fines on 
the order of 50,000 YTL (about USD 37,500).  Based on 
her participation in a recent IP conference in Antalya, 
the Director General also related that prosecutors seem 
much more interested in copyright enforcement than they 
have been in the past.  She added that the film and 
music industries have begun to work more closely 
together, with IFPI's Turkish affiliate Mu-YAP joining 
AMPEC. 
 
Book Piracy Stubbornly High 
--------------------------- 
 
5. (U) A U.K. Publishers' Association report (ref B) 
issued in March acknowledged that legislation passed in 
2004 helps the fight against piracy, but asserted that 
publishers have not experienced any major diminution in 
piracy (estimated at 50 percent of the market) and that 
more enforcement is needed.  Pearson Education, Oxford 
University Press (OUP), Macmillan, and the Copyright 
Holders Association of Literary and Scientific Works 
(EDISAM) have conducted hundreds of raids and seizures 
against pirates.  The publishers have also launched 
numerous court cases against pirates, some of which have 
recently resulted in significant fines and, in one case, 
a term of imprisonment (which may be appealed).  The 
publishers also criticized Turkey's banderole system, 
designed to authenticate legitimate books, noting that 
controls are insufficient to prevent the use of these 
holograms on unauthorized books. 
 
6. (SBU) In a meeting with Econoff April 7, OUP and 
Edisam representatives echoed many of these points, 
especially poor control over banderoles.  They 
maintained that some two million of them were "stolen" 
recently, and predicted that many of them would 
eventually be attached to unauthorized books.  They also 
point out that revenue from the (mandatory) sale of 
banderoles is supposed to be dedicated to anti-piracy 
efforts, but that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism 
(MOCT) has not used these funds for this purpose. 
 
BSA Rep on Software Piracy/Collaboration with USG 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
7. (U) The Business Software Alliance's Turkey 
representative told us that rightholders had obtained 
sizable fines against a number of large Turkish 
corporations for unauthorized software use, and that 
some companies were beginning to lobby the MOCT to water 
down IP protection.  Unlike piracy in other sectors, BSA 
believes software piracy seems to be on the increase 
based on the fact that software sales are not rising as 
rapidly as hardware sales.  BSA told us that it is 
developing an anti-piracy compaign in cooperation with 
AMPEC and the MOCT.  BSA stated that it is also very 
interested in working with the USG in providing training 
and technical assistance.  In particular, the BSA 
representative expressed interest in interviewing a USG 
copyright or enforcement expert as part of a study of 
piracy which it intends to publish in the Turkish 
business press. 
 
8. (SBU) Film, publishing and software representatives 
all expressed some doubts as to whether the new 
Culture/Tourism Minister, and his new team, will be as 
supportive of anti-piracy efforts as was his 
predecessor.  BSA was particularly concerned that 
business complaints about fines for unauthorized 
software use might get a sympathetic hearing in the 
MOCT. 
 
Trademark Owners: Cooperation With GOT Improving 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
9. (SBU) The Trademark Association (TMD) President told 
Econoff April 7 that his organization has actively 
pursued raids and lawsuits against counterfeiters, 
especially in the clothing/footwear sectors, on behalf 
of members, including U.S. companies.  However, he 
lamented the fact that counterfeiters seem often to have 
been tipped off in advance of raids organized by TMD. 
Although the Turkish Patent Institute (TPE) has not 
worked efficiently and has even approved false trademark 
applications filed by rivals of the mark owner, he said 
that TPE had dramatically improved operations under its 
current president.  He characterized cooperation with 
the Justice Ministry's European Integration Department 
as very good.  TMD complained that current law did not 
give law enforcement authorities ex officio powers to 
seize counterfeit goods, but suggested this would be 
corrected in a forthcoming draft law.  TMD expressed 
interest in working with the USG on training law 
enforcement personnel, especially customs officers. 
 
TPE's Special 301 Submission 
---------------------------- 
 
10. (U) In a written comment on the PhRMA Special 301 
submission, the Turkish Patent Institute provided a 
historical overview of patent legislation and statistics 
on filing and approval.  TPE claims that Turkey's legal 
regime for patents exceeds TRIPS standards and is close 
to full harmonization with EU legislation.  Embassy 
faxed a copy of the response to EB/TPP/MTA/IPE. 
Edelman