January 20, 2012
The NYT presented as fact that the movie and entertainment industry are losing $58 billion a year due to the lack of enforcement of copyrights. This is simply a number invented by the industry. It is almost inconceivable that the industry would gain even 20 percent of this amount if all unauthorized copies could be eliminated. (Current revenue from DVD sales and downloads are around $10 billion and recorded music around $6 billion.)
Furthermore, insofar as households are forced to pay more money for watching movies or listening to music, it means that they will have less money for buying other things. The impact of greater copyright enforcement on the economy would be similar to a huge tax imposed on watching movies and listening to music. This would lead to less economic growth and fewer jobs.
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