Pirates of the Caribbean: Trade Dispute with Antigua & Barbuda Threatens US Copyright Holders

Antigua & Barbuda is nearing an all-out war with US copyright holders after a ten-year trade dispute with the United States government. The tiny Caribbean island nation announced on October 23, 2013, that it was finalizing plans to launch a platform that is likely to provide cheap or free online access to copyrighted American media content. Such a website would ordinarily be a flagrant violation of international agreements governing intellectual property, but unfortunately for US copyright holders, the infringement has been sanctioned by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
 
The dispute stems from US regulation of internet gambling. The online gaming industry in Antigua & Barbuda is big business: the country’s government started investing in its “remote-access” gaming industry in the mid 1990s as part of an economic development strategy and claims that the sector was at one point worth $3.4 billion a year and was the country’s second-largest employer. US restrictions on online gambling, however, devastated the Antiguan gaming sector, leading the country to file a complaint with the WTO alleging that the US was violating its international trade obligations. 
 
Proceedings before the WTO resulted in a victory for Antigua and after negotiations between the two countries to resolve the dispute were unsuccessful, Antigua sought permission from the WTO to penalize the US. for its non-compliance with trade agreements. Antigua got final authorization earlier this year for its plan to impose punitive measures against the US valued at $21 million per year. Because Antigua is such a small country, the WTO also took the unusual step of allowing it to retaliate by suspending its legal obligations to the US under international intellectual property agreements since the normal remedy of raising tariffs on US exports to Antigua would be unlikely to have a significant impact.
 
Now, despite strong objections from the US government, Antigua’s “WTO Remedies Implementation Committee” claims it is nearly ready to implement policies “geared towards harvesting benefits from Antigua & Barbuda’s WTO Gaming case.” Whether such announcements are merely aimed at forcing the US back to the negotiating table, and whether such a strategy will prove successful, remains to be seen. Either way, Antigua’s actions have many US copyright holders nervous about what’s to come.
 
Arent Fox will continue monitoring this issue for potential consequences to US copyright holders. Please contact Anthony Lupo, Matthew Mills, Amy Salomon, or Dan Jasnow for information.