Piracy and Counterfeiting:Gatt Trips and Developing Countries (International Economic Development Law)

New technologies and modern communications have generated a huge demand for goods that are protected by intellectual property laws. The scale of piracy and counterfeiting continues to increase despite the growing number of nations to pass supposedly `more effective' antipiracy laws. TRIPS and the WTO may or may not play a role in affecting this trend. The book examines the disturbing increase in piracy -- despite preventative laws -- and the likely impact of TRIPS and the WTO. Topics covered include + the argument that intellectual property rights constitute a monopoly which can be abused, + the differences in attitude between developing and non-developing countries and the corresponding valuation of intellectual property laws, + the categorisation of different kinds of counterfeiters and understanding how they operate, + piracy problems as they relate to TRIPS and recommendations in filling TRIPS's gaps, + criminal sanctions, and + `will-to-fight laws'. Focusing primarily on Nigeria and the UK, Piracy and Counterfeiting takes a comparative approach. The book concedes that the adoption of minimum standards prescribed by TRIPS should improve the `laws in the books' and thereby address the legal factors militating against the curbing of piracy and counterfeiting, but argues that the `law in the streets' -- economic and social factors which may influence effective enforcement of the laws in a post-TRIPS era -- should receive corresponding attention. Piracy and Counterfeiting's uniquely probing analysis of highly controversial aspects of the law makes it a cutting-edge addition to the libraries of both practitioners and academics.