Copyright Industries in the US Economy

According to a report commissioned by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (representing the U.S. copyright-based industries in bilateral and multilateral efforts to improve internationalprotection) that was released on October 7, 2004:

In 2002, the U.S. "core" copyright industries accounted for an estimated 6% of the U.S. gross domestic product ($626.6 billion). The "core" industries are those industries whose primary purpose is to produce or distribute copyright materials. These industries includenewspapers, book publishing, recording, music, and periodicals, motion pictures, radio and television broadcasting, and computer software (including business application and entertainmentsoftware).

In 2002, the U.S. "total" copyright industries accounted for an estimated 12% of the U.S. gross domestic product ($1.25 trillion). The "total" industries are composed of four groups called the core, partial, non-dedicated support, and interdependent sectors.
The "core" copyright industries employed 4% of U.S. workers in 2002 (5.48 million workers).
The "total" copyright industries employed 8.41% of U.S. workers in 2002 (11.47 million workers). This level approaches the total employment levels of the entire health care and social assistance sector (15.3 million) and the entire U.S. manufacturing sector (14.5 million workers in 21 manufacturing industries).
Between 1997-2002, the core copyright industries added workers at an annual rate of 1.33%, exceeding that of the U.S. economy as a whole (1.05%) by 27%. Factoring out the difficult economic year of 2002, between 1997-2001, employment in the core copyright industries grew at an annual growth rate of 3.19% per year, a rate more than double the annual employment rate achieved by the U.S. economy as a whole (1.39%).

In 2002, the U.S. copyright industries achieved foreign sales and exports estimated at $89.26 billion, leading other major industry sectors such as: chemicals and related products, food and live animals, motor vehicles, parts, and accessories, and aircraft and associated equipment sectors.

The report concludes that "U.S. copyright industries have consistentlyoutperformed the rest of the U.S. economy, in terms of contribution to gross domestic product and employment levels, and have played an increasingly prominent role in the growth of U.S. exports. These consistent positive trends in value added, employment levels, and foreign sales and exports solidify the status of the copyright industries as a key industry leading U.S. economic growth."

Rodney D. Ryder