Copyright and National Economy

Copyright and National Economy
Besides protecting creative potential of the society, copyright contributes to a nation on economic-front as well . The copyright based industries together generate huge employment in the country of its origin. The national exchequer benefit from the contribution made by these industries in the form of excise duty, sales tax, income tax etc. from the production and sale of copyrighted products. Given the natural demand for such products from across the national boundaries exports help consolidate country’s foreign exchange reserves position.
While there is no two views on the economic importance of copyright, it is not easy to assess it properly. The first and the foremost difficulty arises in defining the copyright based industries. In simplistic term copyright industries include all those activities which directly or indirectly depend on copyrighted materials for their commercial success. But the range of activities that come under the subject of copyright is so wide that the task of defining the copyright industry becomes difficult. These industries are drawn from a large number of different industry classifications and they are also not readily identified as an industry in the usual sense. This makes the issue more complicated.
However, there is a general consensus on the activities that come under copyright industries. It include printing and publishing of books, newspapers, journals & other periodicals, production and sale of audio products (Cassettes/CDs), production & distribution of cinemas, videos and cables, creation of computer softwares & databases and their distribution, radio and television broadcasting, advertising, photography, dramatic and musical performances etc. The list is not exhaustive. But the present study is confined to only the main segments of the copyright industry and covers cinematographic works (including video), sound recordings, literary works (mainly book publishing), computer softwares and performances.
The economic importance of copyright had been amply illustrated by a number of studies undertaken in the past in various parts of the world, notably in USA, Germany, Australia, U.K., Sweden and some other developed countries. For example, a study conducted in 1993 for the U.S.A. showed that the core copyright industries comprising motion picture, computer software, music & recording and book publishing industries accounted for $ 238.6 billion in value added to the US economy, which approximately accounted for 3.47 % of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These industries grew at more than twice the annual growth rate of US economy as a whole between 1991 and 1993 (5.6% as against 2.7% for the economy as a whole). The total copyright industries taken together (i.e. core industries plus those distribute copyrighted products and other products those depend on wholly or principally on copyrighted materials) employed more than 5.7 million workers (about 4.8% of total U.S. workforce) and accounted for approximately 5.69% US GDP in 1993.
In India, no estimates are available to ascertain contribution of copyright based industries to the national economy. However, given the rich cultural background and huge population of the country, it is believed that copyright industries collectively contribute enormously to the economy. India is the largest audio cassette market in the world in terms of number of units sold. In 1996, India sold more than 350 million audio cassettes & CDs and the industry’s sales turnover stood at Rs.105,605 million. India’s software industry is showing a phenomenal growth. During 1996-97, the software industry in India with its size of Rs.63,100 million achieved a remarkable growth rate of above 50% over its previous year’s performance. During the same period India could export softwares worth Rs.39,000 million and the software industry provided employment to more than 160,000 people.
The publishing industry is also quite large in the country. About 11,000 publishers are engaged in producing more than 57,000 new titles every year, of which about 22% is published in English language. In 1995-96 India exported Rs.1120 million worth of books and other printed material. A sizeable portion of this (about 29.1 percent) went to advanced countries in the Europe. The print media in India comprising daily newspapers and numerous other periodicals e.g. weekly, monthly and annual journals/magazines is huge. In 1997, it had a total circulation of 10,57,08,191 and the turnover from print media is estimated to be as high as Rs. 8000 crores (table 2.1). The other core copyright industry namely film and video, also occupies an important place in the country. Film is considered as one of the best means of entertainment for the common people. India annually produces more than 600 films in major languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam & Kannada. The demand for cable & satellite TVs are also on the rise. It is estimated that during 1996 cable connection in the country had reached about 20 million houses covering approximately 10 percent of the total households in the country.