APPENDIX 4
Memorandum submitted by the Brazilian
Embassy
1. The present moment is unprecedented with
regards to combating piracy in Brazil. Currently, both the Government
and the Brazilian society as a whole ascribe the highest priority
to this matter. As it has been widely acknowledged, there is general
awareness that Brazil, as of today, has done more to combat piracy
than at any other time.
2. Combating piracy as a public policy is
a reality in Brazil in several different action fronts, including
the legislative, institutional, law enforcement, educational and
international ones. These efforts are reflected in routine enforcement
actions, as well as in the growing number of seizures, laws aiming
at improving the effectiveness of combating piracy and institutional
improvements aimed at attaining greater co-ordination of all actions.
3. Since 2004, there have been significant
developments in combating piracy in Brazil, after the conclusion
of the work of the National Assembly Investigation Commission
("CPI") on Piracy of the Brazilian National Chamber
of Deputies, which gave a new impetus to the actions that were
already being undertaken on a routine basis by the Brazilian governmental
agencies.
4. Between September 2004 and February 2005,
additional and important advances were achieved, especially the
creation of the National Council for the Combat of Piracy ("CNCP")
which had been a specific recommendation of the National Assembly
Commission on Piracy, and, which was accepted by the Brazilian
President following the conclusion of the work of the Commission.
The Council represents a qualitative leap in the coordination
of the actions of the government and the private sector entities,
which jointly have created a set of actions to be implemented
in the short, medium and long terms. Among the operations conducted
in critical regions, it is worth highlighting the initiatives
conducted by various government agencies in the Tri-border region
where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina share borders. Several different
actions aimed at raising public awareness have been carried out
since.
5. Piracy is a global problem that does
not affect only Brazil. In comparative terms, Brazil's indicators
are not worse than those of other countries, including developed
ones. The production of pirated goods in Brazil's territory is
relatively low, within the context of a problem that is clearly
international in scope and manifests itself through a variety
of media, whether electronic or otherwise, in a more intensified
manner in other countries.
6. It is also widely recognised that the
piracy percentage figures vary according to the methodology employed.
In that sense, the members of the National Council for the Combat
of Piracy are considering the development of trustworthy official
databases about piracy.
7. With regards to legislation, Brazil has
implemented the commitments of the TRIPS Agreement before the
final deadline of the transitional period for the developing countries
and, in some cases, established its national law TRIPS-plus provisions
on substantive matters [Law no 9,609 of 1998, and Law no 9,610
of 1998], which are historic evidence of the significant efforts
of the Brazilian government towards ensuring the protection of
copyright and other related rights. Such commitments illustrate
Brazil's unique position in relation to intellectual property
rights and set Brazil apart from other developing countries and
even developed ones.
8. Allegations of losses in the Brazilian
market need to be viewed in their proper context. Over a period
of 13 years, foreign exchange remittances to European Union arising
from intellectual property grew from US$ 27,845 millions in 1993
to US$ 69,360 millions in 2005. Thus, since the signing of the
TRIPS Agreement, there has been an increase of over 1,147% in
the foreign exchange remittances sent to the European Union arising
from intellectual property rights in Brazil. Moreover, the EU
is the second largest recipient of foreign exchange remittances
from Brazil arising from intellectual proprety (in 2005, 31% off
all such remittances went to the EU).
9. There is obviously no way to achieve
outstanding immediate results in combating piracy. Therefore,
it is necessary to maintain the appropriate perspective that this
is a sustained and continuous challenge, which requires constructive
cooperation among the affected countries.
10. Additional information concerning Brazil's
anti-piracy initiatives can be obtained electronically:
(i) The English text of the First Report
on the activities of the National Council for the Combat of Piracy
(CNCP) is available at http://www.mj.gov.br/combatepirataria/servicos/documentos/report_english.pdf;
and
(ii) The Second and Third reports are currently
being translated into English and will be available on the same
website.
April 2007
|
