Ambassador Kirk Tours Paramount Studio, Discusses Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement

The entertainment industry is a major player in California’s economy. In 2005, the motion picture and television industry alone employed more than 250,000 Californians. Protecting intellectual property rights is key in saving those jobs and ensuring prosperity in California. It’s also a priority for USTR.

Ambassador Kirk toured the Paramount Studios lot yesterday, meeting with Paramount executive Frederick Huntsberry to discuss current trade issues affecting the entertainment industry.

The entertainment industry is strongly supportive of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a pending agreement that will protect California’s intellectual property from things like internet piracy and camcorder piracy. It’s not just the entertainment industry that suffers. Piracy has a ripple effect throughout the economy, bleeding over into other industries as well, affecting things like technology, sales and jobs.

That discussion was the foundation of Ambassador Kirk’s visit to Paramount. Also on the agenda was the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement. One benefit of completing this agreement would be its potential to increase exports nationally by $10-11 billion annually. The Korea agreement also contains IPR provisions to protect the entertainment industry’s creations and services commitments that provide greater access to both the infrastructure (cable TV) and programming segments (content) of Korea’s media markets.

USTR is working to support California’s economy and to create new jobs in California.