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WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on Wednesday introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen U.S. government efforts to combat copyright infringement and counterfeiting at home and abroad. The Judiciary Committee Wednesday also held a hearing to examine current enforcement efforts. The Intellectual Property Enforcement Act introduced Wednesday by Cornyn and Leahy would strengthen law enforcement capabilities and resources in thwarting copyright theft. The bill would give civil copyright enforcement powers to the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, and it would authorize additional funding to investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes involving computers and the Internet. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assign a minimum of 10 agents to work on intellectual property crimes, and it classifies both the importation and exportation of pirated works as infringement. “This bill takes important steps to protect American innovators and consumers,” said Cornyn. “By working together in a bipartisan manner, we’ve made significant strides to strengthen and safeguard intellectual property rights in Texas and throughout America. This latest effort builds on that strong record. Our bill gives the law enforcement community the additional tools needed to meet the growing threat to America’s innovation economy posed by intellectual property pirates and counterfeiters. I hope my colleagues will support it.” “Copyright infringement silently drains America’s economy and undermines the talent, creativity and initiative that are a great source of strength to our nation,” said Leahy. “When we protect intellectual property from copyright infringement, we protect our economy and our ideas. I’m pleased to join with Senator Cornyn as we launch our examination of how we can better protect those ideas and products from illegal piracy, infringement and theft.” The Judiciary Committee Wednesday also heard from a panel of government witnesses who testified about federal enforcement efforts. Also testifying Wednesday was Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who earlier this year introduced legislation with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, to restructure the current inter-agency intellectual property enforcement structure. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2007 SECTION-BY-SECTION Sec. 1. Short Title. Cites the short title of the bill as the “Intellectual Property Enforcement Act of 2007.” Sec. 2. Authorization of Civil Copyright Enforcement by Attorney General. Allows the Attorney General to “commence a civil action… against any person who engages in conduct constituting an offense under section 506.” The Attorney General therefore is limited in this new authority to bringing civil actions for conduct that would currently qualify as a crime. If the Attorney General is successful in a suit under this Act, the defendant may be fined an amount equal to the amount that would be awarded under 18 U.S.C 3663(a)(1)(B), the criminal restitution statute. Thus, the civil penalties that could be imposed are no greater than the monetary penalties that would be imposed at the end of a criminal proceeding. The language of this section is substantively similar to the PIRATE Act. Sec. 3. Improved Investigative and Forensic Resources for Enforcement of Laws Related to Intellectual Property Crimes. Requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to dedicate a minimum of 10 agents to work with the Department of Justice on intellectual property crimes. Also requires the assignment of one agent located in Budapest and one agent located in Hong Kong, “to assist in the coordination of enforcement of intellectual property laws between the United States and foreign nations.” Finally, the section requires implementation of a comprehensive training program focused on intellectual property crimes, and the formation of an Organized Crime Task Force with directions to study organized crime relating to intellectual property theft. $12 million is authored for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011. Section 4. Additional Funding For Resources to Investigate and Prosecute Criminal Activity Involving Computers. Authorizes an additional $10 million for the FBI and DOJ to hire and train additional agents and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute criminals for intellectual property crimes. Section 5. Registration in Civil Infringement Actions. Amends section 411 of the Copyright Act. First, it amends 411 to apply only to civil infringement actions, as opposed to the current, more general “infringement actions.” Second, and more importantly, section 2 inserts into 411 a “harmless error” provision. 411 provides that “no action for infringement of copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until registration of copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title.” In such actions, certificates of registration provide prima facie evidence of copyright ownership. Section 2 preserves the validity of certificates of registration, even if the certificate contains inaccurate information, unless the inaccurate information was included intentionally and, had the inaccuracy been known, the registration would have been refused. Section 6. Civil Remedies for Infringement. Amends section 503 of the Copyright Act, which concerns the seizing of documents and records in civil infringement actions. In addition to seizing materials used in copyright violation, courts may now also order records documenting the manufacture, sale, or receipt of things involved in such a violation. Section 3 amends impounding provisions in both the Copyright and the Lanham Act in allowing for courts to enter into appropriate protective orders with respect to discovery. Section 7. Criminal Infringement. Amends the forfeiture provisions of section 506(b) and 509(a) to refer to a general forfeiture provision added in this measure. Section 8. Importation and Exportation. Amends 17 U.S.C. 602(a) by adding exportation to the provision; thus importation or exportation of pirated works constitutes an infringement under sections 501 and 506. Section 9. Defining Terms Related to Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems. Defines the terms “traffic in” and “financial gain” in the DMCA (17 U.S.C. 1201). The definition for “financial gain” can be found in 17 U.S.C. 101. “‘Traffic in’ means to transport, transfer, or otherwise dispose of, to another, for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or to make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess, with intent to so transport, transfer, or otherwise dispose of.” Section 10. Forfeiture Under Economic Espionage Act. Amends criminal forfeiture language in 18 U.S.C. 1834 in order to conform to the new forfeiture provision added in this measure. Section 11. Trafficking in Counterfeit Labels, Illicit Labels, or Counterfeit Documentation or Packaging For Works That Can Be Copyrighted. Amends forfeiture language in 18 U.S.C. 2318 in order to conform to the new forfeiture provision added in this measure. Section 12. Unauthorized Recording of Motion Pictures. Amends forfeiture language in 18 U.S.C. 2319B in order to conform to the new forfeiture provision added in this measure. Section 13. Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods or Services. Amends forfeiture language in 18 U.S.C. 2320 in order to conform to the new forfeiture provision added in this measure. Section 14. Forfeiture, Destruction, and Restitution. Creates a new forfeiture section (18 U.S.C. 2323