In a timely publication as the U.K. weighs legislation designed to provide more robust protections for copyright owners and creators, an independent Paris-based economics firm called TERA Consultants has concluded that without changes made to target the threat of online piracy, by 2015 the EU nations could see the loss of 1.2 million jobs and 240 billion euro in retail revenues.

“Building a Digital Economy: The Importance of Saving Jobs in the EU’s Creative Industries” is supported by major trade unions in the creative industries, such as the Union Network International-Media Entertainment Industries (UNI-MEI), which represents unions and guilds in media, entertainment and the arts, and the International Actors Federation (FIA). William Maunier, President of EURO-MEI, said:

The results of the study stress that the growth of unauthorised file sharing, downloading and streaming of copyrighted works and recorded performances is a major threat to the creative industries in terms of loss of employment and revenues. UNI-MEI is concerned that creative industries, as they suffer larger and larger loss of revenues, will in turn be forced to reduce their investment in the production of creative content and with that vanishes work opportunities for creators, technicians and all other workers now and permanently into the future. UNI-MEI underlines the urgency of the need for national and European authorities to adopt Internet policies that will better protect creative content against unauthorised file sharing of protected works and performances.

The data on jobs and GDP contributions are similar to those calculated by Economists Incorporated economist Stephen E. Siwek in the latest “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy” report from the International Intellectual Property Alliance. Core EU copyright industries — film, TV, recorded music and software — were found in 2008 to contribute 558 billion euro value-added to the EU economy (4.5%) and 8.5 million jobs (3.8% of total jobs), with non-core but related industries combining to total 862 billion euro value-added (6.9%) and 14.4 million jobs (6.5%).

The methodology combined data from EU nations, the European Commission and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and focused on the five largest European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.). Most of the data involved digital (online) piracy, although there is some element of physical piracy (counterfeiting) in the data. Broadband penetration foreasts and European Internet traffic reports by Cisco Systems were included. The researchers note this: “This study does not quantify direct losses affecting all creative industries. For example, the loss estimates reported here omit the total piracy losses experienced by TV sports broadcasters and sports interests throughout the EU.” It’s worth noting that other copyright industries such as photography and publishing (book, newspaper, magazine, journal, etc.) also were not included.

It’s worth wrapping this up by including from the press release some compelling quotes of Members of the European Parliament:

“Piracy is costing our economies over 10 billion Euros each year and hundreds of thousands of jobs. This is not only lost revenue for countries across Europe, but a substantial burden to overcoming the economic crisis.” Raffaele Baldassare MEP (Italy, EPP)

“We can’t ignore the damage piracy is doing to our economy and our society. Behind the report on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights currently under discussion in the European Parliament is the crucial question of protecting European jobs from the threat of digital piracy. Piracy should be recognised as a problem. ” Marielle Gallo MEP (France, EPP)

“We cannot ignore the damages caused by piracy to our economy and our workforce. This study shows us just how much inaction will cost us. More needs to be done to protect intellectual property online. The EU needs to lay down a proper legal framework to tackle the piracy problem.” Edit Herczog MEP (Hungary, S&D)

“It’s not just about the creative sector, it’s about the European economy as a whole: the creative industries employ approximately 14 million workers in Europe and account for nearly 7% of European GDP. Digital piracy destroys jobs: hundreds of thousands of European jobs have already been lost to piracy and, if policy-makers don’t address the problem, one in ten current jobs in the creative sector will be lost by 2015. The mobilisation of key trade unions representing workers in Europe’s creative industries shows the gravity of the threat. I encourage my fellow parliamentarians to acknowledge piracy as a problem and to work towards strong IP enforcement to preserve European jobs.” Stephen Hughes MEP (UK, S&D)

“We need to educate European consumers to appreciate that intellectual property rights should not be infringed.” Toine Manders MEP (Netherlands, ALDE)

“14 million people work in the creative industries in Europe and at a time of economic and financial crisis it offers growth potential. We have a responsibility to ensure we safeguard jobs and stand up for this workforce.” Arlene McCarthy MEP (UK, S&D)

“This study shows us that millions of jobs in Europe are at risk due to piracy. We need to tackle the digital piracy problem, or risk losing these jobs.” Bill Newton Dunn MEP (UK, ALDE)

“Piracy is losing us jobs and investment. We need to create a digital environment where creators and those who depend on them are compensated for their hard work and creativity. The Parliament has a crucial opportunity to make a strong statement against digital piracy.” Andreas Schwab MEP (Germany, EPP)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 8:49 pm by Patrick Ross and is filed under economy, international, piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.