Copyright-based industries in five Caribbean countries have contributed, on average, more to Gross Domestic Product than agriculture or manufacturing, a recent study has revealed.
The study, which was conducted in St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, showed that copyright industries contributed 5.3 percent to GDP in 2000 and 5.6 percent in 2010.
St. Lucia had the highest share of copyright in its GDP going from 6 percent in 2000 to as much as 8 percent in 2010 while Dominica had the smallest share which tended to decline going from 4 percent in 2000 to 3.3 percent in 2010.
In terms of specific activities or industries contribution to GDP, Radio and TV were the star performers in St. Lucia while Music, Theatrical Productions and Opera were the major contributor in Grenada and Dominica.
With respect to Employment the average percentage contribution of the copyright sector in the five countries studied tended to decline over the period 2000 to 2010 going from 4.1 percent in 2000 to 3.9 percent in 2010 suggesting increasing productivity of labour in the sector since the output was growing with a relatively declining number of workers mainly as a result of the increasing use of ICT technologies in the sector.
The study found that the participants in the copyright sector tended to be urban males with a better than average education including a fair number with tertiary education. Incomes in the sector were also above average but bank and other formal financing was little used by entrepreneurs and the main source of financing was retained earnings.
It was recommended that policy makers devise innovative methods for financing the sector since it holds much promise for increasing incomes and employment, but the sector will not perform adequately if it is unable to access the necessary investment funds for startup operations or expansion by existing firms.
Estimates of the contribution of copyright-based industries to the OECS participating countries are broadly in line with estimates of the contribution of copyright to other Caribbean countries and many countries around the world. However the average contribution of the sector was below the best performing countries such as the USA where 11.12 percent of its GDP was attributable to Copyright or to the Philippines where 11.1 percent of employment was contributed by copyright based industries.
The authors of the study, which is intended to guide development policies for the region, recommend among other actions that governments urgently realign their education programmes to prepare the work force for participation in the growing digital economy as producers of digital content of various sorts that can be exported on the high speed internet.
The findings of the study were presented to stakeholders in the OECS involved in the creative and allied industries by economist and copyright specialist, Mc Carthy Marie. in St. Lucia during a meeting held on October 7 and 8.
The presentation was organized by the Dominica-based Export Development Unit of the OECS Secretariat.
The report was entitled “The Contribution of Copyright-based Industries to the Economies of the OECS.”
The study was commissioned by The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Specialized UN agency responsible for all intellectual property matters worldwide, for the OECS secretariat and prepared by a team of consultants.
The consulting team was led by Dr. Professor Vanus James of Tobago, Economist and specialist in quantitative methods. Other members of the team were Allison Demas,. Lawyer and Copyright Specialist; Richard Harris, Statistician and Mc Carthy Marie.
Basically put your stamp on it! branding is the way to stay relevant and expand on marketable ideas before they are stolen by those whom already know. register your ideas, brand your products and market to the world!
This is not very clear to me… in the case of St. Lucia where radio and TV were the biggest participants, it appears to me that revenue was being exported. Surely that contributing to someone else’s GDP via export of revenue. Did I misunderstand something Here?
How unsurprising to see a report like this from WIPO — the UN tentacle responsible for promoting a global copyright regime that benefits wealthy countries at the expense of people in poor countries. Dominica is a net consumer of copyrighted material, and as such the more loosely we adhere to their regime, the better.
Dominica consumes copyrighted content it need not pirate.
We can produce our own content. This poor story only holds well when you are talking about abstract things.
Do you empower a burglar to steal your goods because he is ‘poor’ ?
Their is some truth to your statement but DA doesn’t have the technological or manufacturing infrastructure to truly take profitable advantage. It’s best that we establish our own standards at cost to those who want to market/sell their products in DA.