The U.S.-Taiwan Copyright Agreement: Cooperation or Coercion?

Abstract

THE U.S.-TAIWAN COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT: COOPERATION OR COERCION? Jean Lint Taiwan's' economic success has led to its international recogni- tion as one of the four Newly Industrialized Countries ( NIC ). However, Taiwan has historically failed to comply with the interna- tional standards set forth in the Berne Convention for the Protec- tion of Literary and Artistic Works ( Berne Convention ), 3 or even the much more lenient Universal Copyright Convention ( UCC ). Along with its fame for economic success, Taiwan has earned a rep- utation for piracy 5 of world intellectual property. Although Taiwan and the U.S. remain close trade partners, the problem of copyright infringement in Taiwan is a perennial cause of friction, as U.S. in- dustries annually lose millions of dollars due to inadequate copy- right protection in Taiwan. Ever since the U.S. listed curbing international piracy as one of the most important items in its trade agenda, 7 it has vigorously pressured Taiwan to reform its copyright laws. In response to U.S. t J.D. expected 1993, Cornell Law School. 1. In accordance with U.S. government usage, this Comment uses the term Tai- wan rather than The Republic of China whenever practical. See Taiwan Relations Act, 22 U.S.C. § 3314 (1988). 2. The other three NICs are Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong. 3. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Paris Ad- ditional Act, July 24, 1971, 828 U.N.T.S. 221 [hereinafter Berne Convention]. The U.S. adopted the Berne Convention in 1988. Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853. 4. Universal Copyright Convention, Sept. 6, 1952, 6 T.I.A.S. 3324, 216 U.N.T.S. 132 [hereinafter UCC, 1952 Text]; Universal Copyright Convention as revised at Paris, July 24, 1971, 25 T.I.A.S. 7868, 943 U.N.T.S. 178 [hereinafter UCC, 1971 Revision]. 5. For the purposes of this Comment, piracy is 'the unauthorized taking of another person's intellectual property through substantial duplication or production of a substantially similar product of information for commercial purposes.' GARY M. HOFFMAN & GEORGE T. MARCOU, ANNENBERG WASH. PROGRAM, CURBING INTER- NATIONAL PIRACY OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 8 (1989) (quoting the Annenberg Program panel). 6. Id. app. B at 30. 7. Marshall A. Leaffer, Protecting United States Intellectual Property Abroad: To- ward a New Multilateralism, 76 IOWA L. REV. 273, 295 (1991).