The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is an international agreement between the EU and 10 other countries to strengthen copyright protection and reduce counterfeiting and piracy. It applies to creative and innovative industries, ISPs, and counterfeit goods. Signatories are responsible for promoting effective enforcement and balancing copyright protection with freedom of expression, fair trial, and privacy. The scope is limited to economic and commercial interests and does not apply to non-commercial possession of pirated or counterfeit material. The drafters expect it to be the most effective agreement on intellectual property rights enforcement ever reached.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed international trade agreement between the European Union and 10 other countries, including the United States, to strengthen copyright protection. The goal of the agreement is to reduce commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property. The other signatories to the agreement are Australia, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
First, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement applies to creative and innovative industries. The agreement also applies to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Each of the signatory countries can use their own copyright laws when they are more extensive in copyright protection or enforcement. The agreement does not apply to a signatory party when the disputed assets do not meet the definition of intellectual property under its laws.
The agreement applies to copyrighted counterfeit goods, which are copies made without the permission of the rights holder, and to counterfeit trademarked goods, which are packaging and goods bearing an identical brand name to the registered trademark without permission. Under the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, each signatory allows access to the courts of its country to any party injured under the agreement. The courts of any signatory country may also order the contracting party to pay appropriate compensation, including legal costs, to the rights holder. ACTA allows the judicial authorities of signatory countries to issue orders to stop the infringement and have pirated or counterfeit goods destroyed.
Signatories to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement are each responsible for promoting effective enforcement of the agreement. This includes appropriate customs procedures and the use of criminal sanctions under the agreement where necessary. The agreement requires the signatories to balance copyright protection with the principles of freedom of expression, fair trial and privacy.
The drafters of ACTA expect it to be the most effective plurilateral agreement on the enforcement of intellectual property rights ever reached. They also hope it will become an international model for tackling large counterfeiting and piracy firms. The drafters believe that the accord’s provisions that promote strong enforcement of copyright protections will improve international relations.
The scope of ACTA is limited to economic and commercial interests. It does not apply to an individual’s non-commercial possession of a small amount of pirated or counterfeit material. Initially, some criticized the negotiations surrounding the deal as too secretive. The Office of the US Trade Representative later made the draft anticounterfeiting trade agreement available for review and invited the public to comment on the agreement.
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