(Trinidad Guardian) The United States Government has released a report on intellectual property rights (IPR) which has placed T&T on a watchlist as a result of its treatment of the property of local and foreign artistes. The report was compiled by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which operates out of the executive office of the US President. It points to specific conflict between the Copyright Organisation of T&T (COTT) and the local cable provider, Columbus Communications, which operates the brand Flow.
The report states: “The USTR is placing T&T on the watch list in 2013. The US is concerned that the local cable operator refuses to negotiate with the Copyright Organisation of T&T, the local performing rights organisation, for compensation for public performance of music, including music written by American composers. “Parti-cularly troubling in this case is the fact that a court in 2011 found that the local cable operator was required to obtain a public performance licence and nearly two years later judicial authorities have not completed the appeal hearing nor assessed royalties owed to COTT. “Further-more, notwithstanding this decision, the local cable operator failed to obtain this licence.”
The report, which was made public last week, added: “The US is also concerned by ongoing delays in the resolution of the longstanding litigation over the collection of unpaid performance royalties from the same cable operator. “The US urges the Govern-ment of T&T to take all necessary actions to ensure that cable operators in T&T operate in compliance with the provisions of their cable licence agreements related to IPR and that, more generally, IPR is protected in its territory. “The US looks forward to continuing to work with T&T to address these and other issues.”
