Property Crime - Stealing Books, Movies, And Software

Intellectual property (IP) is a generic term that refers to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other tangible personal property is created through someone's intellectual efforts.

The International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA) considers the core copyrighted industries to be the motion picture industry, the music recording industry (records, tapes, CDs), broadcasting (cable, television, and radio), the publishing industry (music, books, newspapers, and magazines), theater, and advertising. In 2001, the IIPA reports, copyrighted industries contributed $535.1 billion to the nation's GDP, growing by more than $75 billion since 1999. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that between 1977 and 1996 the growth in the IP segment of the economy was nearly twice that of the U.S. economy as a whole.

What kind of losses do U.S. companies in these industries see? Total estimated trade losses fell 19% from a total of $11.6 billion in 1997 to $9.4 billion in 2001. Business software losses have been on the increase since 1999, although they are down from 1997. After several years of decline, the illegal distribution of entertainment software increased from 2000 to 2001. Some countries see extremely high rates of software piracy. According to the report, 92% of the business application software in China is thought to be pirated. Ninety-nine percent of entertainment software is thought to be pirated in Brazil and the Philippines.

The world clearly hungers for Hollywood's blockbuster films; piracy losses involving motion pictures increased 37% from 1999 to 2001. Poor quality videos of Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, Titanic, Spider-Man, and other American films routinely turn up on the streets of Asian countries costing several dollars. It can happen anywhere, of course; Colombia, Bolivia, and Indonesia all have video piracy rates of 90%. Some films can be downloaded from the Internet. The book publishing industry saw consistent losses over the period, with losses hovering around $650 to $680 million annually.

The graphic addresses only the trade losses around book, software, movie, and music publishing. What about other types of goods? The next panel examines losses in the apparel and general merchandise industries.

Sources: Chart data comes from http://www.iipa.org; Biskupic, Joan. Intellectual property definition comes from Smith & Hopen, p.a., located at http://www.baypatents.com; "Copyright Case to Determine Use of Classic Culture." USA Today, October 9, 2002, P. 5A. "IIPA Submits Special 301 Copyright Piracy recommendations to Trade Rep." Retrieved from http://www.techlawjournal.com.