SECTION II. COUNTRY REPORTS
PRIORITY FOREIGN COUNTRY
Ukraine
As a result of the 2013 Special 301 Review, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) designates Ukraine as a priority foreign country (PFC). This designation is the culmination of several years of growing concern over widespread IP theft, including the growing entrenchment of IPR infringement that is facilitated by government actors.
During intensive bilateral engagement, Ukraine has made a series of commitments to make specific improvements in the areas of government use of pirated software, nontransparent administration of royalty collecting societies, and online piracy. Notably, Ukraine and the United States agreed to an IPR Action Plan in 2010, which Ukraine publicized in 2011. Implementation of this plan was the subject of intensive bilateral engagement in 2012, including through the Trade and Investment Council meeting. Unfortunately, the situation has continued to deteriorate on each of the issues identified below. Recent efforts on the side of the Government of Ukraine have not gone far enough to demonstrate a commitment to resolving long-standing problems.
Background
Unfair, nontransparent administration of the system governing collecting societies.
The United States is deeply concerned by the deterioration of the entire system for collecting and disbursing music royalties in Ukraine. Ukraine has recognized that it has a significant problem with the operation of illegal or "rogue" collecting societies, i.e., organizations that collect royalties by falsely claiming they are authorized to do so. Such organizations tend to operate without adequate transparency and rarely disburse sufficient funds that they collect to the rights holders entitled to the royalties. The government has not prosecuted several rogue collecting societies -- even societies that the Government of Ukraine determined were collecting money without the necessary authorization.
Furthermore, in 2012, the State Intellectual Property Service of Ukraine revoked the authorization of the Ukrainian Music Rights League, a collecting society that producers report had fairly disbursed royalties. This action has been credibly characterized as an attempt to empower rogue collecting societies, including a rogue collecting society that reportedly has strong ties to government officials. Moreover, in August 2012, Ukrainian courts issued a ruling that eliminated the current procedure for accrediting all collecting societies. Currently there are no authorized collecting societies for producers' or performers' rights in Ukraine.
Moreover, despite committing to promoting legislation to improve the collecting society system, the only legislative amendment proposed to change the collecting society system was an amendment proposed by the government in January 2013 which appeared to empower the
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