Prosecuting Intellectual Property Crimes Manual

GuidanceDepartment of JusticeGeneral Information

Over the past two decades, systematic misappropriation of intellectual property has become a major concern to American businesses, artists, and authors. As the modern economy grows increasingly reliant on intellectual property, the proliferation of computers and computer networks has made the illegal reproduction and distribution of protected material much easier to accomplish. Congress has enacted workable criminal laws prohibiting such misappropriation.

This manual begins in Chapter I with an overview of the legal protection of intellectual property. It first provides general background on intellectual property and the legal regimes employed to encourage its creation. It then explains the criminal law's role in addressing intellectual property misappropriation with a special focus on the recent Intellectual Property Rights Initiative.

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