Support for House Judiciary Committee Hearing on IP Policy

Dear Chairman Jordan and Ranking Member Raskin:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ("Chamber") appreciates the Committee's dedication to supporting copyright-intensive industries and the legal frameworks that enable the U.S. creative ecosystem to grow. We thank the Committee for holding the hearing "A Midlife Crisis? IP and the Internet After 40." Digital piracy is an issue of significant importance to American creators, businesses, consumers, and the broader economy.

Copyright is a cornerstone of American creativity and competitiveness. The Chamber's 2025 literature review, "Unlocking Creativity: A Study of the Socioeconomic Benefits of Copyright," explains that copyright protections help fuel creative output, support high-quality jobs, and strengthen U.S. leadership in the global knowledge economy. The report highlighted that total copyright industries contributed $3.37 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2023, supported 21.14 million jobs, and generated $272 billion in exports. These benefits reach far beyond entertainment and media. They extend across software, architecture, music, film, publishing, broadcasting, video games, education, scholarship, and a wide range of small and independent creative enterprises.

Digital piracy threatens this ecosystem. The unlawful copying, streaming, and distribution of copyrighted works deprive creators and businesses of the value of their investments, reduce incentives to produce new works, expose consumers to unsafe and illicit online marketplaces, and undermine lawful digital services that have expanded access to creative content. "Unlocking Creativity" also underscores that weak enforcement carries real economic costs, with digital piracy estimated to cost the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars annually and correlates with reduced quality, production, and creative risk-taking in new content.

The Chamber's 2026 International IP Index reinforces the importance of strong, enforceable copyright frameworks. The Index evaluates 55 economies across 53 indicators and provides a roadmap for policies that foster innovation, creativity, and economic growth. This year's Index highlights that global IP leadership is shifting, with some advanced economies weakening aspects of their IP frameworks while emerging and middle-income economies make measurable progress. For American creators and businesses, that trend matters: weaker rules abroad can reduce protection for U.S. works, undermine trusted markets, and normalize lower standards at the very moment when strong protections are needed most.

The United States has long been the global leader in copyright policy, creative production, and lawful digital distribution. Yet the Chamber's recent work makes clear that U.S. leadership cannot be taken for granted.

Strong copyright enforcement is not an abstract legal principle. It is what allows creators to invest in new works, small businesses to build audiences, studios and publishers to finance production and distribution, workers across the creative supply chain to earn a livelihood, and consumers to access high-quality content through safe and lawful services. When piracy is treated as a low-risk, high-reward enterprise, the harms are borne by the entire creative ecosystem.

The Chamber urges the Committee to continue examining solutions that address digital piracy in a balanced and effective manner. Done properly, the right combination of enforcement tools can strengthen copyright protection, support lawful markets, and help preserve America's creative and economic leadership.

The Chamber applauds the Committee's leadership in addressing online commercial piracy and the bad actors that profit from it. We stand ready to work with Congress and stakeholders across the creative economy to support policies that protect creators, strengthen IP rights, and ensure that America remains the world's leading engine of creativity and innovation.

Sincerely,

Neil Bradley
Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic AdvocacyU.S. Chamber of Commerce

cc: Members of the House Judiciary Committee