Enforcing IPRs is proving to be a very difficult task.  The global organization responsible for enforcement is the WTO.  Through reprimands, the courts, and ultimately the threat of trade sanctions, the WTO attempts to protect intellectual property worldwide.

WTO Enforcement of the TRIPS Aagreement

Enforcement issues dicussed on the IPR Helpdesk website 

Domestic IPR enforcement: Dept. of Homeland Security 

Creative Commons works internationally to establish organizations that promote the legal use of copyrighted materials.  The conflict surrounding Creative Commons is largely economic.  Professional artists make their livings through revenues generated by their work.  Amateur artists often manipulate and reproduce that work without permission.  Organizations like CISAC, BMI and ASCAP function as watch dogs, advocating for the rights of artists to their own intellectual property.  These organizations also operate internationally.  Since the internet provides an international audience for artists, international watch dog organizations like CISAC must coordinate existing national organizations, working together toward effective enforcement of copyright and performance rights worldwide.

CISAC’s main activities and member services aim to:

• Develop and strengthen the international network of copyright societies;
• Secure a position for creators and their collective management organizations in the international scene;
• Adopt and implement quality and technical efficiency criteria to increase copyright societies’ interoperability;
• Support societies’ strategic development in each region and in each repertoire;
• Retain a central database allowing societies to exchange information efficiently; and,
• Participate in improving national and international copyright laws and practices.

The activities and member services of CISAC work to protect the rights of the creator in an increasingly international environment.  Copyright is the primary way that intellectual property is protected in the arts.  Organizations like ASCAP, BMI and CISAC strive to protect the livelihood of professional artists and individuals who are economically dependent on their creative products.  While intended to protect the rights of the artist, copyright laws run the risk of promoting monopolies.  As Lessig describes in the video of his presentation to TED.com, the tension develops out of economics.  Copyright establishes a legal monopoly on intellectual property around the world.  As Marcel Boyer quotes from Law and Economics (Cooter and Ulen, 1998) in his essay The Economics of Copyright and Fair Dealing, "... the dilemma is that without a legal monopoly, not enough information will be produced, but with a legal monopoly, too little information will be used."