$58 Billion Damage, 373,000 Jobs Lost in U.S. Due to Copyright Piracy

Pandemic theft of copyright-protected products, including motion pictures, video games, sound recordings as well as business and entertainment software, has cost the U.S. $58 billion in annual economic output and 373,375 jobs, according to a report released by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI).

The report, "The True Cost of Copyright Industry Piracy to the U.S. Economy," sheds light on the injuries from copyright piracy to the national economy as a whole, not just to U.S. copyright producers and industries.

Because of global and U.S.-based piracy of copyrighted material:

• The U.S. economy loses $58 billion annually;
• U.S. workers lose 373,375 jobs;
• U.S. workers lose $16.3 billion in earnings annually, including $7.2 billion in earnings from workers in the copyright industry or "downstream" retail industries, and $9.1 billion in earnings by workers in other U.S. industries; and
• The U.S. government loses at least $2.6 billion in tax revenues annually, including $1.8 billion in personal income tax and $800 million in lost corporate income and production taxes.
  

"As policy makers turn their attention to the competitiveness of the U.S. economy in the global marketplace, it is clear that the problem of copyright piracy should be afforded a prominent place on the policy agenda," says Stephen Siwek, author of the report and principal with Economists, Inc.

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Bands, Record Labels Come Together for Digital Music Freedom

More than 50 new bands have joined with a number of record labels to promote fair access to digital music and other content under the umbrella of The Digital Freedom Campaign.

Sites like Napster, Kazaa and others have raised questions on legal and fair consumer access to digital music and other creative content, including lawsuits from record labels and others against online music and other content sites.

The Digital Freedom Campaign says its mission is to ensure that all Americans enjoy new digital technologies free of unnecessary government restrictions and costly lawsuits that restrict consumers' ability to use lawfully acquired content on digital devices.

Where labels and some creative types have sided with restrictions, others are coming out on the side of less restriction.

"As soon as we heard about this campaign, we immediately signed on," says Chris Kienel of indie band, The District. "For the 99.5 % of the artists out there trying to make it, new technologies have liberated us and we need to protect our ability to use them to reach our fans."

The bands involved in the digital music campaign cut across genres, including rock, hip-hop, alternative, country and others. Record labels involved include Sarathan, Yep Roc, Nobility and Interloop.

They see new technologies as ways not only to distribute digital music and other content but to create new revenue sources as well. "You have to remember that these technologies are not onlyhelping the bands get out there, but they also open up new opportunitiesfor the record industry as well," says Al Delaney, of Internet radio and online distributor OutboundMusic. "We all better adapt or get out ofthe way."


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