Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007
Encyclopedia
The Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007, or S.2317, was a bill proposed in the 110th session of the United States Congress
that would strengthen intellectual property laws in the United States by amending titles 17 and 18 of United States Code
as well as the Trademark Act of 1946. It was written by Senator Patrick Leahy
(D-VT) and co-sponsored by John Cornyn
(R-TX) and Arlen Specter
(D-PA). Primarily, the bill would allow the Department of Justice
to press civil charges against file-sharers and award restitution to the copyright owner. This is the third time similar legislation has gone through the United States Senate
without passing.
due to the difficulty of making criminal charges stick. Additionally, the Department of Justice has noted that arresting file-sharing teens is not a priority. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Hewitt Pate was quoted as saying, "The Justice Department is there to enforce the law, there's something to be said for those who help themselves."
In March 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft
formed an Intellectual Rights Taskforce that aimed to address the growing concerns of intellectual property law and copyright in the emerging digital landscape. Ashcroft was urged by numerous congressmen to tackle the growing number of file-sharers within the United States. The goals of the Taskforce were to promote legislation and implement various means of preventing intellectual property theft.
Also in 2004, Senators Orrin Hatch
(R-UT) and Patrick Leahy
(D-VT) introduced the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004, or the PIRATE Act. The bill proposed for the Department of Justice to partake in civil suits against file-sharers on behalf of copyright holders. The goal was to lessen the requirements needed for a criminal suit, as seen in the NET Act. The bill failed to pass in the United States House of Representatives
and faced controversy for allowing the copyright holders to press their own charges in addition to the civil charges, which would enable the file-sharer to face persecution twice. Leahy and Hatch also proposed the INDUCE Act a few months after the PIRATE Act, which also failed to pass in the House.
which addresses copyright law. The bill allows civil penalties for violations of section 506 of title 17. Restitution shall be determined by section 504, and equivalent to the amount that would be determined by section 3663(a)(1)(B) of title 18. The penalty would be offset by any award of damages filed in a civil suit subsequent to the initial case. Section 509, which addresses forfeiture, destruction, and restitution would be repealed.
Crime and criminal punishment outlined in title 18 includes numerous small amendments to section 1834, which adds section 2323 to give additional coverage on forfeiture, destruction, and restitution. The section notes that property prohibited under sections 506 or 1204 of title 17, and 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90 of title 18 are subject to forfeiture as well as destruction after court proceedings. Restitution is mandatory to the victim should a conviction be issued.
The bill also creates a stronger Federal Bureau of Investigation
presence by establishing a unit to work with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section of the Department of Justice
that would have at least 2 agents investigating each case. It also constructs an annual program that FBI agents would be required to attend in order to handle issues of compromised intellectual property
. The FBI would also allot one agent to each Hong Kong
and Budapest
to assist in the program.
The budget for these implementations totaled $12 million dollars. An additional $10 million dollars was allotted to both the Director of the FBI and the Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice for training, tools, and investigative causes.
(RIAA) is one of the largest lobbyers for pro-copyright law in the United States. In 2007, the RIAA spent $2 million dollars on lobbying in support of tougher copyright laws. The RIAA is also a member of the Copyright Alliance, which aims to support those who work in the creative industries.
Some of the largest groups that lobbied for the bill included:
Many smaller organizations from various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, software, car manufacturing, and telecommunications, also supported the bill.
File-sharing and P2P networks like Bearshare
, Grokster
, and Morpheus
lobbied against the bill with the help of lobbying firm P2P United. In 2003, the executive director of the group, Adam Eisgrau stated, “It is long past time for the 'Tyrannosaurical' recording industry to stop blaming and suing its customers to cover up the industry's own glaring failures to adapt yet again to a new technology, one that should have already been making millions for it, and for the average artist.” During this time, he also noted that many P2P sharing sites were willing to collaborate with entertainment industries to find a better solution to the problem.
Senator Leahy was also criticized in 2004 for receiving $178,000 in contributions from entertainment forces. As of 2010, Senator Leahy still obtains a majority of his funding from entertainment and computing industries.
(R-OH) proposed the Intellectual Property Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act of 2007, or H.R.3155, with the co-sponsorship of Representatives Phil English
(R-PA), Jim Gerlach
(R-PA) and Marilyn N. Musgrave (R-CO). In August 2007, it was sent to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security where it did not pass. This bill also intended to amend titles 17 and 18 of United States Code
.
In 2008, the United States Government finally found success with the PRO-IP Act
, which combines elements of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007 and other previous legislation.
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
that would strengthen intellectual property laws in the United States by amending titles 17 and 18 of United States Code
United States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
as well as the Trademark Act of 1946. It was written by Senator Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
(D-VT) and co-sponsored by John Cornyn
John Cornyn
John Cornyn, III is the junior United States Senator for Texas, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress....
(R-TX) and Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
(D-PA). Primarily, the bill would allow the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
to press civil charges against file-sharers and award restitution to the copyright owner. This is the third time similar legislation has gone through the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
without passing.
Background
In 1997, the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) allowed prosecutors to press criminal charges against those caught pirating. Since its’ inception, the federal government has been hesitant to press charges, even in cases such as Capitol v. ThomasCapitol v. Thomas
Capitol v. Thomas was the first file-sharing copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States brought by major record labels to be tried before a jury. The defendant, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, was found liable in a 2007 trial for infringing 24 songs and ordered to pay $222,000 in statutory damages...
due to the difficulty of making criminal charges stick. Additionally, the Department of Justice has noted that arresting file-sharing teens is not a priority. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Hewitt Pate was quoted as saying, "The Justice Department is there to enforce the law, there's something to be said for those who help themselves."
In March 2004, Attorney General John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
formed an Intellectual Rights Taskforce that aimed to address the growing concerns of intellectual property law and copyright in the emerging digital landscape. Ashcroft was urged by numerous congressmen to tackle the growing number of file-sharers within the United States. The goals of the Taskforce were to promote legislation and implement various means of preventing intellectual property theft.
Also in 2004, Senators Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...
(R-UT) and Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
(D-VT) introduced the Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004, or the PIRATE Act. The bill proposed for the Department of Justice to partake in civil suits against file-sharers on behalf of copyright holders. The goal was to lessen the requirements needed for a criminal suit, as seen in the NET Act. The bill failed to pass in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and faced controversy for allowing the copyright holders to press their own charges in addition to the civil charges, which would enable the file-sharer to face persecution twice. Leahy and Hatch also proposed the INDUCE Act a few months after the PIRATE Act, which also failed to pass in the House.
United States Code
The bill makes specific amendments to title 17 of the United States CodeUnited States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
which addresses copyright law. The bill allows civil penalties for violations of section 506 of title 17. Restitution shall be determined by section 504, and equivalent to the amount that would be determined by section 3663(a)(1)(B) of title 18. The penalty would be offset by any award of damages filed in a civil suit subsequent to the initial case. Section 509, which addresses forfeiture, destruction, and restitution would be repealed.
Crime and criminal punishment outlined in title 18 includes numerous small amendments to section 1834, which adds section 2323 to give additional coverage on forfeiture, destruction, and restitution. The section notes that property prohibited under sections 506 or 1204 of title 17, and 2318, 2319, 2319A, 2319B, or 2320, or chapter 90 of title 18 are subject to forfeiture as well as destruction after court proceedings. Restitution is mandatory to the victim should a conviction be issued.
The bill also creates a stronger Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
presence by establishing a unit to work with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section of the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
that would have at least 2 agents investigating each case. It also constructs an annual program that FBI agents would be required to attend in order to handle issues of compromised intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
. The FBI would also allot one agent to each Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
to assist in the program.
The budget for these implementations totaled $12 million dollars. An additional $10 million dollars was allotted to both the Director of the FBI and the Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice for training, tools, and investigative causes.
The Trademark Act of 1946
Changes to this bill included additional protection to seized records of copyright and trademark to ensure that any confidential information is not given out.Lobbying
The Recording Industry Association of AmericaRecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) is one of the largest lobbyers for pro-copyright law in the United States. In 2007, the RIAA spent $2 million dollars on lobbying in support of tougher copyright laws. The RIAA is also a member of the Copyright Alliance, which aims to support those who work in the creative industries.
Some of the largest groups that lobbied for the bill included:
- Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA)
- Sony Corporation
- Magazine Publishers of America
- VivendiVivendiVivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...
- Warner Music GroupWarner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
- Microsoft Corp
- National Music Publishers AssociationNational Music Publishers AssociationThe National Music Publishers Association is the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of...
- News Corp
- General ElectricGeneral ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
- Songwriters Guild of AmericaSongwriters Guild of AmericaThe Songwriters Guild of America is an organization founded in 1931, to help "advance, promote, and benefit" the profession of songwriters. It was founded as the "Songwriters Protective Association" by Billy Rose, George M. Meyer and Edgar Leslie...
- Time WarnerTime WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
- United States Chamber of CommerceUnited States Chamber of CommerceThe United States Chamber of Commerce is an American lobbying group representing the interests of many businesses and trade associations. It is not an agency of the United States government....
- Walt Disney Corporation
- Verizon CommunicationsVerizon CommunicationsVerizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
- Johnson & JohnsonJohnson & JohnsonJohnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
Many smaller organizations from various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, software, car manufacturing, and telecommunications, also supported the bill.
File-sharing and P2P networks like Bearshare
BearShare
BearShare is a peer-to-peer file sharing application originally created by Free Peers, Inc. for Microsoft Windows, and now sold by MusicLab, LLC .- History :...
, Grokster
Grokster
Grokster Ltd. was a privately owned software company based in Nevis, West Indies that created the Grokster peer-to-peer file-sharing client in 2001 that utilized the FastTrack protocol. Grokster Ltd. was rendered extinct in late 2005 by the United States Supreme Court's decision in MGM Studios,...
, and Morpheus
Morpheus
Morpheus may refer to:Characters*Morpheus , the principal god of dreams in the Greek mythology*Morpheus , a moniker for Dream, a fictional character in the comic book The Sandman...
lobbied against the bill with the help of lobbying firm P2P United. In 2003, the executive director of the group, Adam Eisgrau stated, “It is long past time for the 'Tyrannosaurical' recording industry to stop blaming and suing its customers to cover up the industry's own glaring failures to adapt yet again to a new technology, one that should have already been making millions for it, and for the average artist.” During this time, he also noted that many P2P sharing sites were willing to collaborate with entertainment industries to find a better solution to the problem.
Controversy
The bill was criticized for its support of copyright holders, since it allows the Justice Department to fight on their behalf. It also eradicates the burden of proof required in criminal cases, making a suit less of a risk to the government while taking away the need for the holder to pursue their own litigation.Senator Leahy was also criticized in 2004 for receiving $178,000 in contributions from entertainment forces. As of 2010, Senator Leahy still obtains a majority of his funding from entertainment and computing industries.
Related Legislation
In July 2007, Representative Steve ChabotSteve Chabot
Steven Joseph "Steve" Chabot is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously represented the district from 1995 to 2009.-Early life, education and career:...
(R-OH) proposed the Intellectual Property Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act of 2007, or H.R.3155, with the co-sponsorship of Representatives Phil English
Phil English
Philip Sheridan "Phil" English served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 - 2009 from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, representing the state's 3rd Congressional district....
(R-PA), Jim Gerlach
Jim Gerlach
James "Jim" Gerlach is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.- Early life, education and career :...
(R-PA) and Marilyn N. Musgrave (R-CO). In August 2007, it was sent to the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security where it did not pass. This bill also intended to amend titles 17 and 18 of United States Code
United States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
.
In 2008, the United States Government finally found success with the PRO-IP Act
PRO-IP Act
The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 , is a United States law that increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent and copyright infringement...
, which combines elements of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007 and other previous legislation.
Court Cases
- Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. TenenbaumSony BMG Music Entertainment v. TenenbaumSony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum is the subsequent appeals lawsuit following the initial case Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum decided on 31 July 2009 by the Massachusetts District Court. The initial court decision stated Joel Tenenbaum was to pay a sum of $675,000 for damages on counts of willful...
- Capitol v. ThomasCapitol v. ThomasCapitol v. Thomas was the first file-sharing copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States brought by major record labels to be tried before a jury. The defendant, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, was found liable in a 2007 trial for infringing 24 songs and ordered to pay $222,000 in statutory damages...
- MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. 545 U.S. 913 is a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court unanimously held that defendant P2P file sharing companies Grokster and Streamcast could be sued for inducing copyright infringement for acts taken in the course of marketing file sharing...
Legislation
- Protecting Intellectual Property Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004
- PRO-IP ActPRO-IP ActThe Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 , is a United States law that increases both civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent and copyright infringement...
- Digital Millennium Copyright ActDigital Millennium Copyright ActThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
- Intellectual Property Enhanced Criminal Enforcement Act
- INDUCE Act
- Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act