President Signs PRO-IP Bill in Law
Posted in Intellectual Property, Legislation, News, Politics
President Bush on Monday signed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (”PRO-IP” Act) into law. The law increases both civil and criminal penalties for copyright and trademark infringement and creates a new executive branch office, the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative (USIPER). This office — colloquially referred to as the “IP Czar” — will report directly to the president and is charged with protecting copyright and trademarks both domestically and internationally.
The bill originally introduced a controversial provision that allowed the Department of Justice to conduct civil suits on behalf of private copyright holders or, as Electronic Frontier Foundation spokesman Richard Esguerra said, turned Justice Department lawyers into “pro bono personal lawyers for the content industry.”
While the ESA has praised the new law as a “critical step[] that support[s] job growth and investment in the video game industry,” other groups remain skeptical. The Justice Department has expressed concerns that the newly-created “IP Czar” may undermine some of the department’s authority and advocacy group Public Knowledge expressed dismay that the bill did not introduce “something to benefit the public and artists instead of big media companies.”
