As usual, Terry Hart at Copyhype comes bearing wisdom and footnotes in his follow-up post on the IIPA Report indicating that copyright industries contribute substantially to GDP. From his post:
The reaction from copyright skeptics about the report’s conclusions that copyright contributes significantly to the US economy was, essentially: “Does not.”
The spin seems to be that, yes, industries that create and disseminate copyrighted works may make substantial contributions to the US economy, but that does not necessarily mean that the success is a result of copyright itself. Jonathan Band, writing at the CCIA’s Project DisCo, says, “The report itself does not in any way attribute the success of these industries to copyright protection.”
Hart calls this argument “odd” because it is. To me, Band’s criticism is like saying the right of free speech has nothing to do with the profusion of citizen journalism, satire, or political debate in America, but what do I know? Read Terry’s blog, and read it often. When it comes to the real nuts and bolts of copyright, Terry is a wise, sober voice — with footnotes! I’m just a curmudgeon with a well-worn thesaurus.
