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OTHER OBSERVATIONS
Austria: In 1996, the Government of Austria amended its copyright law. One of these amendments created a compulsory license for the public performance of films in hotels. This compulsory license may violate both the Berne Convention on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and TRIPS Agreement. Austria is a member of both these agreements and is obligated to be in full compliance with them both. The U.S. Government will continue to consult with Austria about this matter in the expectation that Austria will amend its copyright law to remove the compulsory license provision.
Copyright piracy in Belarus is extensive and enforcement efforts are insufficient. Piracy of audiovisual, software and recorded works is causing substantial losses to U.S. industry. It is unclear whether Belarus protects pre-1973 works; Belarus does not provide retroactive protection for sound recordings. We look to Belarus to reduce the level of copyright piracy through better enforcement and to take the steps necessary to bring its intellectual property laws into full compliance with TRIPS no later than its accession to the World Trade Organization.
Bolivia signed an Investment Treaty with the U.S. on April 17, 1998. In conjunction with that agreement, the Government of Bolivia committed to become TRIPS-consistent within 12 months, and to notifY the WTO of its commitment to implement its obligations within that time. In September 1997, the Government created a single new agency responsible for patent, trademark and copyright issues. Currently, protection of IPR in Bolivia suffers from both inadequate laws and weak enforcement mechanisms. Bolivia needs to work with other members of the Andean Community to address shortcomings in Decisions 344, 345 and 351. Stronger enforcement of existing laws is needed to reduce piracy in Bolivia. We applaud Bolivia's commitment to accelerate its implementation of TRIPS and look forward to seeing the fruits of that commitment.
Estonia provides no protection to foreign sound recordings. Piracy of sound and video recordings destined for both the local market and export is extensive. Software piracy is also a problem. Enforcement has been weak at all levels. Estonia's copyright law is not TRIPS-compatible in several important respects. Because Estonia's application to join the World Trade Organization is at a relatively advanced stage, it is particularly important for the Government to take the steps necessary to bring its intellectual property laws into full compliance with TRIPS quickly and to better enforce those laws before it accedes to the World Trade Organization.
Germany: Concerns remain regarding a major audiovisual piracy problem and the role of German firms in manufacturing and/or exporting throughout Europe of pirated "smart cards" and other "descrambling" devices used to steal encrypted satellite, cable and broadcast transmissions, particularly of U.S. motion pictures. Progress was made with respect to the availability of civil ex parte search orders in 1997 and we look forward to further progress on this issue.
Hungary has made some notable progress in improving legal protection for intellectual property rights in the last year. As a result of effective raids and seizures, the U.S. industry's losses due to
