Uzbekistan is conducting a massive operation to secure the protection of authors’ and intellectual property rights and engaging with regional and international organizations including UNESCO, the World Organization of Intellectual Property, and the World Trade Organization. This was reported by Uza, Uzbekistan’s national news agency.  The law on “author’s and related rights,” adopted in Uzbekistan in 2006, brought Uzbekistan in line with international norms. Nonetheless, according to the news source, it remains common to see intellectual property, especially compact disks smuggled into the country, being reproduced and sold without the consent of the author. As reported by the news agency, the Uzbek Republic’s agency on intellectual property rights in 2007 was presented with 21 arrests and the confiscation of 40,000 units of counterfeit products. The government tax service and law enforcement agencies conducted nearly 1,200 examinations and raids, during which 2,000 cases of rights infringements were discovered and 3,000 copies of audio and video materials were confiscated.

This information was originally published on January 18, 2008. (www.uza.uz)