“American entrepreneurs invest their time, money and talent into creating the next must-have music, film and technology, and justly expect to be compensated by the market, both at home and overseas. To assure the continued creation and distribution of music, movies, software and books, from which we all benefit, we must ensure that our artists, creators and producers are paid for their work. Our creative industries employ millions of Americans and are some of our most competitive exports. All we want is a level playing field where all nations live up to their obligations to protect intellectual property and enforce the law.”

– Rep. Adam Schiff

Supporting Anti-Piracy and Intellectual Property Protection

The American music, film, software, gaming, and book and journal publishing industries are among America’s top exporters, and millions of jobs depend on their continued international leadership. Americans must not be forced to subsidize the content that others steal. Likewise American businesses should not be forced to compete with foreign companies that cut production costs by using unlicensed software or pirated scientific articles.

Rep. Adam Schiff is one of the Chairs and founders of the International Creativity and Theft Prevention Caucus, a bipartisan bicameral caucus whose goal is to increase awareness and understanding of the creative industries and to advocate for policies, at home and abroad, that prevent the theft of copyrighted materials.

Each year, the Caucus releases a “watch list” to highlight high levels of intellectual piracy and countries making efforts to make improve the economic climate for creative industries, as well as work with private industry to find ways to reduce copyright infringement.

Working With Private Industry to Crack Down on Pirate Sites

In July 2014, Rep. Adam Schiff and the co-chairs of the International Creativity and Theft Prevention Caucus wrote to the major players in the advertising space to encourage them to study the problem, adopt best practices, and operationalize their commitment to keep advertising off of sites dedicated to theft, and recently received an update from those major players, which details the concrete steps currently underway to evaluate “digital ad assurance” technologies.

Schiff believes that the private sector plays an important role in reducing copyright infringement, and has worked diligently with good actors in the online payment, online advertising, and other spaces to identify ways to cut off funds to sites that profit by stealing the Intellectual Property of U.S. creators.

Extending and Expanding the Film Tax Credit

Rep. Adam Schiff led an effort in 2014 by 28 members of the California Democratic Delegation urging the leaders of the California State Senate and Assembly to reauthorize and enhance the California film tax credit during the 2014 legislative session. A June 2013 study by the California Film Commission found that feature film production in the state is far down from previous highs due to runaway production. The Office of the Legislative Analyst recently found that only 52 percent of film and television jobs are located in California, down from 65 percent just a decade ago.

After urging by Schiff and other Members of Congress, the State Legislature took up and passed an extension and expansion of the state’s film tax credit in 2014.