$58 Billion in Economic Damage and 373,000 Jobs Lost in U.S. Due to Copyright Piracy

$58 Billion in Economic Damage and 373,000 Jobs Lost in U.S. Due to Copyright Piracy

DALLAS, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to a report released today by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), pandemic theft of copyright-protected products, including motion pictures, video games, sound recordings as well as business and entertainment software, has cost the U.S. $58 billion in annual economic output and 373,375 jobs.

The report, "The True Cost of Copyright Industry Piracy to the U.S. Economy," sheds light on the injuries from copyright piracy to the national economy as a whole, not just to U.S. copyright producers and industries.

   Because of global and U.S.-based piracy of copyrighted material:   -- The U.S. economy loses $58 billion annually;   -- U.S. workers lose 373,375 jobs;   -- U.S. workers lose $16.3 billion in earnings annually, including $7.2      billion in earnings from workers in the copyright industry or      "downstream" retail industries, and $9.1 billion in earnings by workers      in other U.S. industries; and   -- The U.S. government loses at least $2.6 billion in tax revenues      annually, including $1.8 billion in personal income tax and $800      million in lost corporate income and production taxes.   

"As policy makers turn their attention to the competitiveness of the U.S. economy in the global marketplace, it is clear that the problem of copyright piracy should be afforded a prominent place on the policy agenda," says Stephen E. Siwek, author of the report and principal with Economists, Inc.

Piracy's threat is devastating in magnitude, damaging the most important growth drivers in the U.S. economy-intellectual property products, responsible for nearly 40% of economic growth and nearly 60% of growth in U.S. exports.

The study is the third and final in a series of intellectual property papers examining the overall economic impact of copyright piracy and patent infringement.

For report copies, visit http://www.ipi.org/ or contact Erin Fitch at

(972) 874-5139. IPI experts are available for interview. IPI is a national

public policy organization based in Dallas, Texas.

Source: Institute for Policy Innovation

CONTACT: Erin Fitch of Institute for Policy Innovation, +1-972-874-5139,
erinfitch@ipi.org

Web site: http://www.ipi.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment