Music Creator Groups Applaud Progress in WTO TRIPS Waiver Discussions

The Society of Composers & Lyricists, the Songwriters Guild of America, Music Creators North America, the National Music Council of the United States, and the US Copyright Alliance are extremely gratified that their efforts to curb the illegitimate and groundless expansion during the global pandemic of fair use for copyrighted works in various foreign nations have met with success. The final wording of the agreement is still being worked out.

The United States Trade Representative and the Biden Administration heard our voices, and responded by ensuring that while massive global efforts to fight COVID-19 must and will continue at full speed, those actions cannot be permitted to lead to the gutting of copyright protections for no valid reason in the process.

The USTR’s statement is available below.

Statement from USTR spokesperson Adam Hodge on the WTO TRIPS waiver discussions:

Since last May, USTR has worked hard to facilitate an outcome on intellectual property that can achieve consensus across the 164 Members of the World Trade Organization to help end the pandemic. USTR joined informal discussions led by the WTO Secretariat with South Africa, India, and the European Union (EU) to try to break the deadlock.

The difficult and protracted process has resulted in a compromise outcome that offers the most promising path toward achieving a concrete and meaningful outcome. While no agreement on text has been reached and we are in the process of consulting on the outcome, the U.S. will continue to engage with WTO Members as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive effort to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.