Aug. 13--Wisconsin software firms and music publishers could benefit from a trade ruling against China aimed at opening markets in the world's most populous country.

Under the ruling, made public Wednesday, the World Trade Organization largely sided with a U.S. complaint that accused China of making U.S. companies sell copyrighted products such as books, CDs and video games through state-approved or state-run businesses. The ruling also went against Chinese restrictions on foreign producers of audiovisual goods.

The U.S. film industry "won a major victory in its years-long battle to open the Chinese movie market," Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, said in a statement.

Wisconsin firms stand to benefit from easier access to China.

"Clearly this isn't Hollywood, and the music industry and movie industry are not huge in the Milwaukee area, but clearly this ruling is going to help makers of software that's shrink-wrapped and sold in China," said Robert J. Misey Jr., who leads the international practice at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, a Milwaukee law firm.

Software firms that may have balked at doing business in China because of piracy concerns may now want to reconsider those decisions -- since the World Trade Organization has said China must have criminal penalties for deliberate commercial piracy of copyrighted and patented materials.

But the challenge will be getting China to stop illegal actions.

"What happens if they don't stop?" Misey asked. "Then the U.S. would go to the WTO again and might ask for the right to impose regulatory tariffs. But that can take years, so we probably haven't heard the end of this issue."

Copyright protection is one of the biggest irritants in the U.S.-China commercial relationship. Improvements in China's protection of products ranging from auto parts to videos could help American companies even more than changes in currency policies, analysts say.

Wednesday's ruling stopped short of a clear-cut U.S. victory and can be appealed by China.

The United States failed to convince the WTO that China's thresholds for criminal prosecution of product piracy are so high they effectively allow sales of illegal items on a commercial scale.

"China has been very reluctant to even specify criminal penalties for intellectual property theft, much less throw people in jail for it," said Alan Tonelson, research fellow with the U.S. Business and Industry Council.