WASHINGTON, October 3 - “I applaud the work of Stephen Siwek and the Institute for Policy Innovation in undertaking this study. Although this research is the most comprehensive effort to date to quantify the overall cost of copyright theft to the U.S. economy, it is still quite conservative. Many industries dependent on copyright protection are not included in this report because of a lack of data - including publishing industries of all kinds, photography and graphic arts.

“Copyright protection benefits a diverse employment population across the United States. Every state in America is home to creators – from the hundreds of professional photographers in Connecticut to the thousands of software industry employees in Colorado.  Not only that, but, as this research shows, these creators and their works have an exponential effect on the economy. It is not only the photographer herself, it is the photo archivists and editors, the equipment manufacturers and online photo sales businesses.

“Tackling the problem of copyright theft requires meaningful copyright law, combined with aggressive and ongoing education. Research such as this is important to informing policy makers and the public about the cost of piracy and the value of the copyright industries to the economy and job creation.”

BACKGROUND

A new report released to day by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), reveals that theft of copyright-protected products, including motion pictures, video games, sound recordings and business and entertainment software, has cost the U.S. $58 billion in annual economic output, 373,375 jobs, $16.3 billion in lost wages annually and $2.6 billion in tax revenue annually.

For more information, www.ipi.org

ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE

The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization dedicated to the value of copyright as an agent for creativity, jobs and growth. For more information, please visit www.copyrightalliance.org.

Members of the Copyright Alliance include: American Federation of Television & Radio Artists; American Intellectual Property Law Association; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; American Society of Media Photographers; Association of American Publishers; Association of Independent Music Publishers; Attributor; Broadcast Music, Inc.; Business Software Alliance; CBS Corporation; Directors Guild of America; Discovery Communications; Entertainment Software Association; Graphic Artists Guild; Imageline, Inc.; Imagery Alliance; Langley Productions; Magazine Publishers of America; Major League Baseball; Microsoft; Motion Picture Association of America; National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR); National Association of Broadcasters; National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Football League; National Music Publishers' Association; National Basketball Association Properties, Inc.; NBC Universal; Newspaper Association of America; News Corporation; PPL and VPL; Professional Photographers of America; Recording Artists' Coalition; Recording Industry Association of America; Reed Elsevier; SESAC; Software & Information Industry Association; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Time Warner; Viacom; Vin Di Bona Productions; and The Walt Disney Company.

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 CONTACT: Gayle Osterberg, 202/669-0689