August 13, 2009

A ruling this week by the World Trade Organization (WTO) will make it easier for U.S. publishing and audio-visual industries to export and distribute copyrighted products such as CDs and DVDs in China—and possibly even to gain a foothold against the country’s massive counterfeit industry, reports BusinessWeek.

Specifically, the WTO found that import barriers on products like DVDs and reading materials violate WTO protocols, as do restrictions that prevent foreign suppliers from distributing their own products in China. To date, China has required U.S. creative works to be distributed through state-owned companies.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk called the findings "an important step toward ensuring market access for U.S. exporters and distributors of those products."