<nettime> Copyright Economic Engine

[John Young <jya@PIPELINE.COM>]

     [orig To: cyberia-l@listserv.aol.com]

A note on Christian Singleton's career inquiry and Carl Oppedahl's
suggestions to look into the future of IP law: 

One of the reasons Judge Kaplan gave in the MPAA New York hearing for "the
likelihood the plaintiff will prevail,"  is that copyrighted industries
are vital to US foreign policy and economic health, and that First
Amendment rights must be set aside for the sake of the national interest
in copyright protection before freedom of expression. 

Judge Kaplan has been presiding over copyright cases for some time, thus
is broadly knowledgeable well beyond the MPAA case. Many such cases are
filed in New York federal courts, which are perceived to be sympathetic to
*corporate* copyright holders, and not least because of the city being
home to the international legal and financial interests which have a
global stake in *corporate* copyright protection of intellectual property. 

While it may have been previously mentioned here, we call attention to a
study released in December by the International Intellectual Property
Association which sets out the case, if you will, for "the copyright
industries"  (innovative terminology) outpacing all other industries in
economic benefits to the United States. Here are excerpts from a press
release by the IIPA on the study. 

From: http://www.iipa.com/html/latest_news.html

                New Study Reveals Copyright Industries
                 Are Engine Driving the U.S. Economy

Copyright Industries Lead the Economy in Contribution to GDP,
                        Jobs and Foreign Sales

Washington, D.C. The U.S. copyright industries contribute more to the
nationís economy and employ more workers than any single manufacturing
sector including chemicals, industrial equipment, electronics, textiles
and apparel, food processing and aircraft, according to a new economic
report released today by the International Intellectual Property Alliance
(IIPA). 

The 1999 Report details the economic contributions of U.S.  creative
industries including movies, television programs, home videos, business
and entertainment software, books, music and sound recordings to the U.S.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment and trade. 


Key findings of this yearís report include: 

The U.S. copyright industries accounted for 4.3% of U.S. GDP or $348.4
billion in value-added in 1997. 

In the last 20 years (1977-1997), the core copyright industriesí share of
GDP grew more than twice as fast as the remainder of the economy (6.3% vs.
2.7%). 

>From 1977 to 1997, employment in the U.S. copyright industries more than
doubled to 3.8 million workers (2.9% of total U.S.  employment) and
increased nearly three times as fast as the annual rate of the economy as
a whole (4.8% vs. 1.6%). 

The U.S. copyright industries achieved foreign sales and exports of $66.85
billion in 1997, more than all major industry sectors including
agriculture, automobiles and auto parts and the aircraft industry. 

"As we witness the dawn of the Information Age, the information and
entertainment industries lead the way in economic growth and trade," said
Eric Smith, IIPA President. "That growth will accelerate into the next
century provided that piracy is significantly reduced, other market access
barriers are eliminated and the Internet is made secure for the
transmission of valuable copyrighted material. If we succeed with this
agenda, global e-commerce can realize its full potential." 

"There is no question that, as we enter the next century, and the Internet
brings new ways to transmit copyrighted goods, we will see a whole new set
of challenges," U.S. Commerce Secretary William M. Daley said. "I am
delighted to announce that a special government council, created recently
by the President to better coordinate copyright enforcement among federal
agencies, will meet for the first time in January. The council will
improve our fight against copyright piracy, and, with your cooperation, it
will also strengthen ties with industry." 

.. 

IIPA is a coalition of associations representing U.S. copyright-based
industries in bilateral and multilateral efforts to open up foreign
markets closed by piracy and other market access barriers. IIPAís member
associations are the Association of American Publishers (AAP), AFMA
(formerly the American Film Marketing Association), the Business Software
Alliance (BSA), the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the
Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA), the National Music
Publishersí Association (NMPA)  and the Recording Industry Association of
American (RIAA). 

These associations represent over 1,350 U.S. companies producing and
distributing materials protected by copyright laws throughout the world
all types of computer software including business and entertainment
software (such as videogame CDs and cartridges, personal home computer CDs
and multimedia products); motion pictures, television programs and home
videocassettes; music, records, CDs and audiocassettes; and textbooks,
tradebooks, reference and professional publications and journals (in both
electronic and print media). 

[End excerpt]

We appreciate Judge Kaplan, the IIPA and the Department of Commerce
linking an unbroken chain from exemplary corporate profit making to
national economic security, and in that innovative way justify limitation
on freedom of expression for the sake of stockholder and corporate officer
betterment and the well-being of political office holders who must return
to the job market afterwards (as with Jack Valenti and unbroken links of
others). 

Hail to the Copyright Industries for their redefinition of where the top
places are begging. 

Now how the interests of the persons who created the goods in the first
place, not those organizations listed in the IIPA membership? 

Presumbably, those who currently benefit from the copyright industry are
here awating an opportunity to clearly state the grounds for the
opposition's sacrifice for their country. 

More on MPAA's "innovative and creative" IP partners at: 


http://www.mpaa.org:80/relatedsites/

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