BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1356
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1356 (Lieu)
As Amended April 10, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-0
JUDICIARY 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Garcia, Gorell, | |Calderon, Donnelly, |
| |Muratsuchi, Stone | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Extends, until January 1, 2016, the sunset date for
the current pilot program authorizing local prosecutors to
maintain an action for nuisance abatement in non-residential
property used for the manufacture or sale of counterfeit goods,
as provided, and makes a corresponding change to the deadline
for program reporting requirements.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes it a crime for any person to willfully manufacture,
intentionally sell, or knowingly possess for sale any
counterfeit mark registered with the Secretary of State or
patented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Further provides for certain criminal fines, imprisonment, or
both, where the offense involves 1,000 or more of
counterfeited goods, or has a total retail or fair market
value equal to or greater than that required for grand theft.
2)Makes it a crime for any person to fail to disclose the origin
of a recording or audiovisual work if, for commercial
advantage or financial gain, he or she knowingly advertises or
offers for sale or resale, or sells or resells, or causes the
rental, sale, or resale of, or rents, or manufactures, or
possesses for these purposes, any recording or audiovisual
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work, the outside cover, box, jacket, or label of which does
not clearly and conspicuously disclose the actual true name
and address of the manufacturer thereof and the name of the
actual author, artist, performer, producer, programmer, or
group thereof, except as specified.
3)Provides, until January 1, 2015, that if there is a conviction
by any person for the crimes specified above, then a
non-residential building or place used by that person for the
purpose of willfully manufacturing, intentionally selling, or
knowingly possessing for sale any counterfeit goods shall be
deemed a nuisance which may be enjoined, abated, and
prevented, and for which damages may be recovered, whether it
is a public or private nuisance.
4)Requires that an owner be provided with 30 days' notice prior
to the filing of an action to abate a nuisance under these
provisions.
5)Requires a district attorney, county counsel, city attorney,
or city prosecutor that maintains an action or actions to
enjoin, abate, or prevent a counterfeiting nuisance to submit
a report to the Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees, by
October 1, 2013, on their use of the provisions of this
chapter and their effectiveness, including specified
statistics and other information.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible fiscal impact.
COMMENTS : This non-controversial bill, sponsored by the Los
Angeles City Attorney, seeks to extend, until January 1, 2016,
the sunset date for the current pilot program enacted by AB 568
(Lieu), Chapter 453, Statutes of 2009. That program currently
authorizes local prosecutors to maintain an action for nuisance
abatement in non-residential property used for the manufacture
or sale of counterfeit goods, as provided, but is set to sunset
at the end of this year.
According to the author, this bill is needed to address the
problems of illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods, "The
counterfeiting of goods such as pharmaceuticals, electronics,
computer software, DVDs, CDs, clothing and many other items is a
multi-billion dollar problem in California. Counterfeit goods
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are a danger to consumers, undermine legitimate businesses, and
deprive tax-payers of revenues needed for public services.
According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation (LAEDC), counterfeiting and piracy have cost Los
Angeles County at least 70,000 manufacturing jobs and 36,000
retail jobs, resulting in the loss of $482 million in tax
revenues for the city of Los Angeles and county of Los Angeles.
In a time of critical shortages in public budgets, these massive
losses in tax revenues translate into reductions in vital
services that we can ill afford. As a whole, SB 1356 would
continue to help eliminate the growing problem of piracy and
counterfeiting plaguing California communities."
AB 568 was enacted to provide local prosecutors with an
additional tool to address the growing problems of piracy and
manufacture of counterfeit goods in California. Under AB 568,
if a person is convicted for willfully manufacturing,
intentionally selling, or knowingly possessing for sale any
counterfeit mark, as specified, then a non-residential building
or place used by that person for that purpose shall be deemed a
nuisance which may be enjoined, abated, and prevented, and for
which damages may be recovered, whether it is a public or
private nuisance. AB 568 also required a 30 days' notice to be
sent to the owner prior to the filing of any such action, and
required that any local prosecuting attorney who maintains an
action to enjoin, abate, or prevent a nuisance pursuant to these
provisions must report specified information to the Senate and
Assembly Judiciary Committees by October 1, 2013. The
provisions enacted by AB 568, however, will sunset on January 1,
2015.
This bill would extend the deadline for mandatory reporting
until February 1, 2015, and would extend the sunset for the
overall program for an additional year, until January 1, 2016.
According to the author, this extension of the sunset date is
needed to allow more time for appropriate usage data and other
information to be reported to the Legislature for evaluation of
the overall program. Because of the dearth of data that has
thus far been reported to the Legislature, it is unknown which
jurisdictions other than Los Angeles have exercised the
authority provided by the SB 568, nor what the impact has been,
if any, upon counterfeiting activity in those areas.
SB 1356
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Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0004126