Kyle SGMS used our newssubmit to tell us that a study has shown that the motion pictures, music and television are among the copyright industries that contributed a total of $791.2 billion to the U.S. economy last year:
The report comes at a volatile time for the music and film industries as they struggle to find legal and legislative solutions to protect their copyrights with the advent of Internet and technological piracy. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington last month, Walt Disney Co. president and CEO Michael Eisner accused computer manufacturers of profiting from copyright piracy. Disney and News Corp., with the support of a bill introduced Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., are pushing for legislation to ensure copyright protection on digital devices (HR 3/22). |
The music industry is facing the same problem as record companies have been ensnared in a legal battle with file-swapping service Napster (news - web sites) Inc. for the past two years. Napster and similar peer-to-peer online services allow users to download music at will for free. Labels also are sorting out the legal ramifications of introducing copy-protected CDs into the marketplace.
The report's sponsors, which include the MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites), hope to use the growing economic clout of Hollywood and other creative industries to press the government for expanded legal protections for copyright-holders.
According to the study is the growth largely due to the United States' strong copyright laws and the enforcement of these laws which, with the advent of Internet piracy, has the film and music businesses struggle for solutions and means of protecting their intellectual property rights going forward.
Source: Yahoo.com
