Piracy: WTO calls on Saudi Arabia to comply with intellectual property rules

A panel of experts from the World Trade Organization (WTO) has called on Saudi Arabia to comply with international intellectual property (IP) rules in a ruling published on 16/06/2020.

"Qatar has established that Saudi Arabia has taken measures that, directly or indirectly, have had the result of preventing beIN from obtaining Saudi legal counsel to enforce its IP rights through civil enforcement procedures before Saudi courts and tribunals. Qatar has established that Saudi Arabia has not provided for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied to beoutQ despite the evidence establishing primafacie that beoutQ is operated by individuals or entities under the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia," said the WTO's report.

This decision is separate from the arbitration procedure initiated by the Qatari beIN Media Group against Saudi Arabia before the WTO for an amount of $1bn (€890m) on 01/10/2018. This procedure has still not been settled and the Qatari group considers that its damages have since increased.

"The WTO has established that the Saudi government has played a central role in…