For immediate release
The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) today released the first major study showing that the sectors of the economy that depend on the “fair use” of copyrighted material make a significant contribution to the U.S. economy. The study is at http://www.ccianet.org.
The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“CCIA should be congratulated for sponsoring this significant project. For years, the copyright industries have made their case for restricting the rights of consumers based on the argument that their industry makes a significant contribution to the economy that could be jeopardized by fair use rights.
“The results are telling. While the content industries claim employment of 11.3 million workers in 2005, the CCIA study found industries depending on fair use employed 17.3 million people in 2006. While the copyright industries claim to have generated $1.3 trillion (or 11.2% of Gross Domestic Product), the CCIA study found that fair-use industries generated $2.2 trillion in 2006.
“This report should guide policy-makers and others who want to tilt further the copyright laws away from a reasonable balance between creators on the one hand and consumers and innovators on the other. The report presents a clear case that the harm to the economy could be more significant than previously thought by following a radical content industry policy that diminishes legitimate lawful use of copyrighted material.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.