Reports

Congress created “Special 301" when it passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitive Act of 1988, which amended the Trade Act of 1974. Special 301 requires the U.S. Trade Representative to identify those countries that deny adequate and effective protection for intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access for persons that rely on intellectual property protection. Countries which have the most onerous or egregious acts, policies or practices and which have the greatest adverse impact on relevant U.S. products are designated “Priority Foreign Countries,” and at the end of an ensuing investigation, risk having trade sanctions levied against them. Countries can also be placed on other lists which do not result in immediate trade sanctions, such as “Priority Watch List” and “Watch List.”

IIPA first measured the economic impact of the U.S. copyright industries on the U.S. economy in a report issued in 1990. Since then, IIPA has commissioned economic studies identifying these industries’ contributions to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, employment and foreign sales and exports. Our most recent study is Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2020 Report, prepared for IIPA by Robert Stoner and Jéssica Dutra of Secretariat Economists (released December 2022).

IIPA contributes public comments on select countries to various U.S. agencies. This section contains country submissions filed since 2001 in the annual Special 301 exercise led by the U.S. Trade Representative as well as other IIPA documents which are identified specifically as to their source.