WASHINGTON — U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today, at a press conference at the Commerce Department, cited copyright industries as the “critical drivers” of economic growth, jobs and trade, while endorsing the latest study by the International Intellectual Property Alliance and economist Stephen E. Siwek, “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2003 – 2007 Report.”

The 12th report in an IIPA series dating back to 1990 found copyright industries play a significant role in U.S. Gross Domestic Product, employment, wages, and global trade. Here are some statistics, also found in a helpful IIPA fact sheet:

* Real growth rates in the core and total copyright industries from 2004 to 2007 were more than twice that as the economy as a whole.
* Core copyright industries (including theatrical films, TV, DVDs, business and entertainment software, books, music and sound recordings) contributed 22.74% of US real economic growth in 2006-2007, and the total copyright industries (including impacted industries such as distribution and retail) contributed 43.06% of U.S. growth.
* Value-added of core copyright industries in 2007 was $889.1 billion, more than 6% of U.S. GDP.
* The value of total copyright industries in 2007 was $1.52 trillion, or 11.05% of U.S. GDP.

Other key statistics include the core copyright industries employing about 5.6 million workers, 11.7 million in total copyright industries; annual 2007 compensation of core copyright workers ($73,554) exceeding average U.S. compensation ($56,817) by 30%; and U.S. copyright products totaling sales in foreign markets of $126 billion in 2007, up 8% over 2006.

Locke praised the positive impact copyright industries have on economic growth and employment, but said “copyright industries are plagued by widespread counterfeiting… of both physical and online products.” “President Obama fully supports robust, progressive trade agreements,” Locke said, agreements that provide “strong protection for intellectual property.” He said the Obama Administration was fully committed to enforcement of creators’ rights. Locke also noted the World Intellectual Property Organization has found that copyright and intellectual property rights not only bring economic growth, they also are significant contributors to society and culture.

IIPA’s Eric Smith only spoke briefly at the event, to allow time for us to hear from the leaders of the IIPA members — AAP, BSA, ESA, IFTA, MPAA, NMPA and RIAA (six of those seven are Copyright Alliance members). But let me quote Smith from the IIPA press release:

The copyright industries are uniquely dependent on governments’ willingness to adopt and enforce strong copyright laws that take into account changes in technology and new infringement threats that undermine creativity and innovation and the jobs and revenue that they generate. As globalization expands and Internet broadband penetration grows, our creators, our government and citizens in general must look to the great potential of a world of e-commerce to continue to create new jobs, revenue and to grow international trade. Only through the legal and secure transmission of valuable copyrighted content over the Internet can this continued growth and productivity be fully realized. Piracy threatens that growth and all governments must redouble their efforts to combat it.

That is absolutely correct. Secretary Locke and others in the Obama Administration have repeatedly emphasized those very points, and we are grateful for that recognition. (Locke mentioned today that IP enforcement was high on the agenda of a recent meeting with the Chinese government.)

The event wasn’t just about numbers, though. NMPA CEO David Israelite noted that a key result of economic losses due to piracy is a “loss of art that never occurs because the jobs aren’t there.” IFTA CEO Jean Prewitt said that even when the films of her independent film members are not the subject of rampant online piracy, they suffer because piracy of blockbuster films “destroy” film distribution models in places like Spain, and lack of distribution channels also used by independent filmmakers means some independent films simply aren’t made because they can’t line up the financing.

No economist can completely calculate the loss to artists and culture that Israelite and Prewitt are talking about, but they are real, as real as the copyright industries’ contributions to GDP.

We can take heart that creative industries are continuing to produce, continuing to employ, and continuing to reach global markets. That is good for all of us as consumers and taxpayers. That is good for the folks down the street or in the next pew who draw their livelihood from total copyright industries.

It also begs the question as to where are we in 2009 — a reporter asked that, and Smith and Siwek noted it’s too early to tell, the numbers aren’t in yet. But a goal of all policymakers should be to see that any setbacks that occur in economic growth and employment in copyright industries come from broader economic impacts, which are largely outside of government control, and not from rampant piracy, which is significantly within government control, beginning with rigorous enforcement of existing intellectual property law here and abroad.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 1:18 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under Obama, copyright law, counterfeit, creators, culture, economy, events, international, market forces, p2p, piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.