Music Publishers Support Congressional Call for Enforcement Tools to Combat Digital Theft
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / April 4, 2011
WASHINGTON—The National Music Publishers’ Association today supported calls by congressional leaders for legislative tools to help law enforcement combat criminal activity online.
Democrat and Republican leaders from the House and the Senate joined together in the U.S. Capitol to discuss the impact to the U.S. economy and jobs of criminal web sites trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods.
“Criminal activity online is everyday eroding the work of America’s economy and workforce,” said NMPA President and CEO David Israelite. “Songwriters and music publishers stand with the millions of Americans whose work depends on our nation’s founding principle of intellectual property rights to support efforts to address this illegal activity.
“Like any other right, copyright is meaningless if it can’t be enforced. The criminals operating web sites that traffic in and profit from unlicensed copyrighted music and other kinds of products are doing everything they can to avoid the reach of the law. Law enforcement’s tools must keep pace with criminal tactics. Common sense approaches to this problem can and should move forward.”
About the NMPA
Founded in 1917, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of music copyrights.