IIPA Celebrates 20th Edition of the “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy” Report
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2025 — The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) today released the Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2024 Report, The 20th edition of the report measures the economic contribution of the American creative sector to US economic growth, job creation, and trade. This year’s findings are consistent with every report since the first one released in 1990 – the strength of the U.S. economy, U.S. employment, and U.S. exports rely heavily on the protection of copyright, the promotion of the U.S. creative industries, and the dissemination of legitimate copyright content, including books, music, videogames, computer software, motion pictures, TV content, newspapers, and periodicals and journals.
This latest edition of the report shows a record $2.09 trillion economic contribution by the core copyright industries to the U.S. economy. The popularity of U.S. content around the world is higher than ever before, with the creative sectors producing $272.6 billion of foreign sales and exports, continuing to exceed exports of other major U.S. industries and up significantly from the $156.3 billion of foreign sales and exports recorded ten years ago in the 2014 Report.
Today’s findings also reveal the core copyright industries employed 11.6 million American workers, accounting for 5.43% of the entire U.S. workforce and 6.1% of total private employment in the nation. The 2024 report again measures the copyright industries’ contributions to the U.S. digital economy, as that concept has been defined by the federal government. In 2023 the core copyright industries accounted for 51.39% of the U.S. digital economy and 49.1% of U.S. digital economy employment, even though the government’s digital economy definition does not encompass the full range of the copyright industries’ digital activities.
IIPA Executive Director Kevin Rosenbaum stated: “The core copyright industries are essential to the success of the U.S. economy. This year, our impact reached record highs, adding $2.09 trillion to the domestic economy – outpacing the U.S. economy’s total growth almost threefold. Our industries have led the way in driving the growth of the digital marketplace, accounting for 49.1% of employment in the U.S. digital economy. The 20th edition of the Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy report highlights the importance of copyright protection and enforcement, particularly in the digital marketplace, for the health of the U.S. economy and job market.”
Key 2023 economic figures contained in the report include:
- The core copyright industries added $2.09 trillion dollars of value to U.S. GDP, accounting for 7.66% of the entire U.S. economy.
- Sales of major U.S. copyright products in overseas markets amounted to $272.6 billion.
- 11.6 million American workers are employed by core copyright industries, accounting for 5.43% of the nation’s workforce and 6.1% of total private employment in the United States.
- Core copyright workers earn an average annual compensation of $141,880, exceeding the average annual compensation paid to all U.S. workers – $94,363 – by 50%.
- The core copyright industries grew at an aggregate annual rate of 9.23% between 2020 and 2023, while the average annual growth rate for the entire U.S. economy during that period was only 3.41%.
- The core copyright industries’ substantial contributions to the U.S. digital economy included 51.39% of value added and 49.1% of employment, even though the U.S. digital economy definition does not encompass the full scope of the copyright industries’ digital activities.
The full report is available here, and an accompanying infographic is available here.
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The International Intellectual Property Alliance is a private sector coalition of associations representing U.S. copyright-based industries. Its five member associations represent over 3,200 U.S. companies. Further information about the IIPA can be found here.
