Fair use boosts US economy more than copyright
Copyright exceptions worth trillions
By Egan Orion: Thursday 13 September 2007, 12:45
theinquirer.net
FAIR USE is worth more than copyright to the US economy, concludes a report issued Wednesday by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). It said that fair use exceptions to copyright produce over $4.5 trillion of US annual revenue. CCIA CEO and President Ed Black said in a statement:
"Much of the unprecedented economic growth of the past ten years can actually be credited to the doctrine of fair use, as the Internet itself depends on the ability to use content in a limited and nonlicensed manner. To stay on the edge of innovation and productivity, we must keep fair use as one of the cornerstones for creativity, innovation and, as today's study indicates, an engine for growth for our country."
The CCIA referred to recent estimates of the industry wide value added net revenue of fair use versus copyright based industries. Copyright based value amounts to $1.3 trillion, whereas fair use value amounts to $2.2 trillion, according to the CCIA report. Thus the fair use contribution to the US economy is 70 per cent greater than that of copyright.
Black said the CCIA's objective in releasing the report is to suggest to lawmakers that copyright legislation requires balance. He said, "What it points out is there's an important chunk of the economy that's impacted by what happens to copyright law."
We'd venture to say that fair use is actually worth even more to the US economy - and to the copyright based industries - than the CCIA claims. After all, much of the revenue that's generated by copyrighted works is really driven by audience interest developed by free publicity attributable to fair use in news articles, reviews and forums.
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