Abstract
Intellectual property (IP) history has long pointed to certain nations as sources of copyright infringement, but these linkages are now systematically produced through annual Special 301 reporting by the US government and media industries. Exploring connections between infringement and nation, this article poses three concepts. Anti-piracy discourse produces a pirate repertoire, a stock of familiar transgressive figures deployed in efforts to combat piracy. These include the pirate-state, a figure used to name and shame nations as hotspots for IP infringement. Cumulatively, pirate-states form a broader geography of media piracy, mapping the world in terms of hubs for unauthorized flows of cultural content. This article views the Special 301 as a representational mechanism for creating a centre–periphery vision imagining ‘the West’ and its infringing others. Although 301 reporting can therefore be read as a statement of discursive power, the article argues this influence remains circumscribed, as is shown by the case of Ukraine.
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