TAIWAN and the right of administrative appeal (for non-technical decisions) is too restrictive. Trademark Issues: The draft trademark bill is under review by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and is slated for submission to the Executive Yuan in early 1992. It includes provisions adopting an international classification system, but there is no timetable for its implementation. In addition, the draft bill still contains an enforcement loophole permitting the local sale of counterfeit goods in the absence of intent to defraud. The Fair Trade Law, which goes into effect in February 1992, protects trade dress and secrets and prohibits intentional mislabelling and other acts that may confuse consumers. The law also regulates multi-level distributorships such as Avon and Amway, but implementing regulations have not yet been finalized. Copyright Issues: The revised copyright bill is currently under legislative review and likely to be passed by early 1992. This revision includes many significant improvements, such as an extended term of protection, retroactive protection for works created after 1965, and protection of translation rights for foreign works on a reciprocal basis. This revision is consistent with the AIT/CCNAA Copyright Protection Agreement initialed in July 1989 and will bring Taiwan's copyright protection up to Berne Convention standards. A major copyright case involving Encyclopaedia Brittanica was decided in February 1991. The Taipei high court ruled in favor of the company against a local publishing firm. The defendants were sentenced to prison terms of up to 14 months, including fines ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 yuan (approximately US$560-1125). However, the principle defendants have yet to be apprehended and serve their terms. In At present, computer software, cable TV, compact disc (CD), and videotape piracy are serious problems on Taiwan. 1991, the U.S. Business Software Alliance (BSA) initiated several high-profile raids, which have helped reduce corporate purchases of counterfeit software. In September 1991, the Ministry of Interior's Copyright Committee conveyed information on seven alleged CD pirates to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. Cable TV Issues: The Government Information Office (GIO) has launched a two-pronged approach to address cable TV piracy. First, it has carried out an aggressive enforcement program to locate and destroy illegal cable TV systems. However, the high profitability and relatively low cost of installing such systems makes it difficult to make real headway in eradicating them. Secondly, the GIO has completed a cable TV bill permitting the establishment of legitimate stations providing authorized programming. This bill is now being reviewed by the Legislative Yuan and is widely expected to be adopted by June 1992. The bill provides for past IP violations to be taken into account in granting or renewing station licenses. Videotape Viewing Parlors (MTVs) and Audio-visual Issues: In early 1991, Taiwan legalized its videotape viewing TAIWAN parlors (MTVs) as agreed upon in the 1989 Audio-visual Agreement. As a result of this licensing process, the number of MTVs fell from 650 in January 1989 to 178 in June 1991. However, MTV owners and member companies of the Motion Picture Export Association of America (MPEAA) have yet to reach an agreement on royalties for the public performance rights of audio-visual works. At present, home-use videotapes are still widely used by MTVs. Rental Rights Agreement: AIT and CCNAA concluded a Rental Rights Agreement in April 1990 which establishes administrative rules impeding the unauthorized copying of sound recordings and computer software, effective July 1990. So far, the agreement appears to be successful since new rental shops for these works have not emerged. New Technologies: Semiconductors and satellite receivers represent new technologies posing additional IP challenges for U.S. firms. Taiwan is drafting legislation to address some of these issues, but the laws are in various stages of preparation. The draft Semiconductor Chip Act is currently under review in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Industrial Design Law and supplements to the Copyright Law are still being drafted by the National Bureau of Standards. There is no satellite broadcast law presently under consideration. However, small satellite receivers are common on Taiwan. industries AIT has no Impact of IP Infringement: The costs to U.S. of IPR infringement are difficult to estimate. recent figures supplied by U.S. firms. However, MPEAA estimates that twenty percent of Taiwan's illegal cable programming features its titles, representing a major loss of revenue. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (including the Recording Industry Association of America) estimates that pirated CD's currently make up about 15 percent of the local market and are being exported to Asian markets. 8. Workers Rights a. The Right of Association Labor's right of association is seriously limited by a number of laws and regulations. The Labor Union Law permits all workers except civil servants, educational personnel, and munitions industry workers to organize unions, as long as the unions obtain approval from the central authorities. Unions may be dissolved by the authorities if their activities disturb public order. Until now, no union has been dissolved, although some applications for certification have been denied. Circumventing restrictions of the Labor Union Law, some quasi-unions known as Friendship Associations, the United Labor Front, and the Independent Labor Alliance emerged after martial law was lifted in mid-1987. The Civic Organizations Law, revised in January 1989, requires all civic organizations, including quasi-unions, to obtain official approval, with violations punishable by a two-years maximum jail sentence. Approximately 2.9 million workers, or 33.5 percent of Taiwan's work force, belonged to 3,622 officially TAIWAN registered unions as of September 1991. Most unions have close relations with management and the KMT ruling party. Revisions of the law governing labor disputes effective June 1988, recognize labor's right to strike, but impose restrictions that make legal strikes difficult. Prosecution of labor activists is not uncommon and inhibits Taiwan's labor movement. Workers still are at risk of being laid off by employers when they try to set up independent labor unions. b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively Only centrally approved labor organizations are empowered to organize and bargain collectively under the Labor Union Law, the Collective Agreement Law and the Law Governing the Handling of Labor Disputes. Collective bargaining is provided for under the Collective Agreements Law but is not mandatory. Only 295 formal collective agreements were in force as of September 1991, down from 329 the previous year. Since such agreements are made only in large scale enterprises, and less than 5 percent of Taiwan's enterprises fall into this category, the proportion of workers covered by them is small. Under the Labor Union Law, employers may not refuse employment to, dismiss, or otherwise unfairly treat workers because they are union members. Labor laws governing union activities apply equally within export processing zones. C. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor Under the Labor Standards Law, forced or compulsory labor is prohibited. Violations are punishable by a maximum jail sentence of five years. d. Minimum Age of Employment of Children The Labor Standards Law stipulates the minimum age for employment is 15, and interaction between this law and a compulsory education law effectively keeps child labor to a low level. e. Acceptable Conditions of Work The Labor Standards Law defines general conditions of work, such as the basic (or minimum) wage, working hours, overtime pay, severance and retirement benefits. By law the workweek is limited to 48 hours (8 hours per day, 6 days per week) with certain provisions for overtime. While there is a new occupational safety and health law which enlarges coverage of the old law to include workers in agriculture, fishing, and the forestry industries, and strengthens penalties for safety violations, it still provides only minimum standards for working conditions and health and safety precautions. Rising labor consciousness and continuing labor shortages have resulted in improvements in working conditions. f. Rights in Sectors with U.S. Investment U.S. firms or joint ventures here generally abide by Taiwan's labor regulations. U.S. firms also tend to provide model work conditions both in wages and other items. Worker rights do not vary significantly by industrial sector but TAIWAN conditions of work do. Cumulative U.S. investment on Taiwan totaled USD 3.7 billion at the end of 1990, according to Taiwan's statistics. About two-thirds of this amount went to electronic/electrical and chemical industries. Workers in those sectors enjoy better vocational training and fringe benefits than those in other sectors. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Survey of Current Business August 1991, Vol. 71, No. 8, Table 11.3 |