Abstract

It is hard if not impossible to quantify all the economic effects of press and publishing, arts, design, software and all other copyright-based sectors. Copyright sectors first of all produce value added and generate income; they create employment and contribute to the balance of payments. But the products and services have much wider implications and positive external effects on the economy than can be measured by adding up value added produced and employment generated. It is often tried to capture those more far reaching effects in general terms such as the 'knowledge economy' filled with 'creative workers' (see, for instance Florida, 2002). There is certainly truth in the general perception that creativity, which is the stuff, materialized in the goods and services produced by the copyright-based industry, can change the economy and have an influence on the well being of everybody. But it is impossible to capture this perception in hard numbers. Quite well doable however is to capture the measurable parts of the economic contribution in numbers. What I present in below is a measurement of value added and employment of the copyright-based industry in the Netherlands over the past decades. I will also briefly present numbers on the contribution of the copyright-based sector on imports and exports.

Abstract

In July of 2002, the World Intellectual Property Organisation organised a working group of economists to study the methodologies that are appropriate when attempts are made to measure the economic contribution of copyright to a national economy, with the final objective being to produce a guide-book that will enable future studies to be made, all within a common methodological framework. Dimiter Gantchev, a consultant with WIPO, was encharged with the task of writing the resulting Guide-book.

Abstract

Drawing on personal experience, this note outlines a number of the methodological challenges that exist when trying to provide some quantification of the economic impacts and contributions related to copyright law and policy (See The Allen Consulting Group, 2003a, The Allen Consulting Group,2001, and The Allen Consulting Group, 2003b).

Abstract

This article explores methods and issues in measuring the contributions of copyright industries to national economies. It reveals the importance of copyright value creation, identifies copyright industries and activities that make economic contributions, discusses problems of measurement, compares methods used and reveals difficulties in comparability of existing research, and provides suggestions for improving and undertaking future research.

Abstract

The object of this paper is to present the methodology and key findings of a study entitled The Economic Importance of the Industries & Activities Protected by Copyright or Related Intellectual Property Rights in the Mercosur Countries Plus Chile, which may be useful as a basis for similar research in other developing countries. It should be noted that this is not an academic study designed to investigate hypotheses on the dynamics and role of the copyright industries or the role of intellectual property and related rights in the formation and evolution of the copyright industries. The purpose of the study is more modest. Its authors set out to describe the copyright industries in general terms and measure their importance in income formation, job creation and trade in the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) plus Chile. The study was commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Mercosur countries plus Chile, which were interested in assessing the economic importance of the copyright industries in those countries.

Abstract

The ten papers in this book were first presented at the SERCI annual congress in Madrid in 2002. In her introduction to the volume, co-editor Wendy Gordon notes that the technology that enables us to preserve and make reproductions of creative works changes the entire cultural landscape, as it provides authors with a means of earning income from the general public as consumers, and not just from patronage appointments. This shift in the source of income will change the kind of works that are created. Importantly, "it was to harness the extra value enabled by technology that copyright was invented" (p. xviii). It is therefore appropriate that much of this valuable volume of new research on the economics of copyright is concerned with the response of copyright policy and market contractual arrangements to changing technology.

Abstract

This paper outlines the experiences of the economist who elaborated the studies on the economic importance of copyright for the US economy.

Abstract

The economics of copyright as such has certainly come of age. About 70 years has passed since the very first time that economists gave serious thought to the copyright system, although it has been only during the last 20 years that the literature has flourished. In this paper an overview of the general topic of the economics of copyright is given, and the areas that have already be touched upon are discussed. Then, a speculative answer is attempted to the question of what the near future will hold.

Abstract

This article evaluates proposed changes to New Zealand's copyright legislation in respect of potential secondary liability for copyright infringement by Internet service providers. Minor changes were envisaged in order to align the legislation with new international standards, with limitation of ISP liability along the lines of the UK Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 recommended. Both zero liability and strict liability for web-hosting ISPs are correctly rejected, but the proposed uniform regulatory approach provides limited incentives for ISP monitoring effort and while proposed knowledge-based standards should largely prevent excessive permanent removal of legitimate material, the constructive knowledge test may be insufficient to encourage the removal of many infringing items. The counter-notification procedure may not prevent liability-conscious ISPs from removing excessive legitimate material on a temporary basis, and more radical solutions involving ISP purchase of their subscribers' posted material or compulsory ISP purchase of copyrights did not feature. The design of optimal copyright law is fraught with difficulties, however, and the Ministry's consultative processes and careful deliberations have done much to maintain a reasonable balance between the conflicting interests concerned.