WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts has passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, putting structure and resources behind the Department of Justice's pledge to crack down on intellectual-property crimes.
The bill, known as the Pro IP Act, calls for the establishment of a White House office devoted to the issue and an intellectual-property enforcement representative.
"We applaud the efforts of the House Judiciary Committee and, in particular, the leadership of the IP Subcommittee to continue pressing for better, more effective, more efficient enforcement of America's intellectual-property rights," said Patrick Ross, executive director of the Copyright Alliance. "This bill will provide much-needed resources and organization to enforcement efforts on foreign and domestic fronts."
Public Knowledge, a group that advocates protections for fair use of copyrighted content, said it is pleased that the amended bill removed a provision that would have awarded multiple statutory damages for compilations that infringed copyrights. Under the removed provision, a person who copies a protected CD would have been liable for statutory damages for each song.
The group also said it is pleased with the addition of language that requires the Department of Justice to show a "substantial connection" between property it tries to seize and the infringing activity.
The bill will go before the full committee and be put up for a floor vote.
An enforcement-toughening bill, S. 2317, was introduced in the Senate in November 2007, but no action has taken place.
