BS Vs. BS – Fair Use Contributes 2.2 Trillion!

Big content (which comprises the companies that pay the RIAA/MPAA/BSA etc) loves to throw bogus numbers around: XX billion lost to piracy of movies, XX billion lost to piracy of music, XX billion lost to piracy of software etc.

While these numbers are quickly (almost immediately) debunked on sites like Ars, TechDirt , Wired etc they still get quoted in the U.S Congress and other places of power… as fact… because the talking points have been feed to these “servants” of the people directly from the lobbyists themselves.

Now it seems someone else is fighting fire with fire, using the same logic the content industries use.. and in their own turf… WE LOVE IT!

The copyright industry lobbyists absolutely love to throw around the bogus and debunked stat that copyright contributes $1.52 trillion to the economy. That number is derived by taking any business that kinda sorta maybe touches copyright (including things like furniture and jewelry) and then assuming that all of the revenue they make is entirely due to copyright. Yes, that’s ridiculous. But, if the copyright lobbyists are going to use such bogus methodology to push their agenda, it seems only fair for those on the other side to use the same methodology. Last week, we wrote about a biased editorial by two newspaper industry lawyers in the WSJ (who failed to note the conflicts of interest), claiming that Google violated copyright law, and attacked the concept of fair use.

In response, Ed Black, from the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote a letter to the editor highlighting those lawyers factual mistakes as well as the importance of fair use throughout the industry (thanks to Yano for sending this in). Most of the (short) letter discusses all the wonderful things that fair use allows, and then has this wonderful line at the end:

Businesses dependent upon exceptions to copyright contribute $2.2 trillion to the U.S. economy. They are responsible for one in eight jobs, for a total payroll of $1.2 trillion in 2006. Fair use is serious business; it is the glue that holds the Internet and new technology together. It is worth protecting…

Read the rest of the article as well as great commentary on TD
and related article

Related posts:

1. And The Song…Oops,Scam Remains The Same
2. Spanish Man Gets Justice From Anti-Piracy Thugs
3. Looking At ACTA..
4. The Real Music Pirates…Rogues
5. UK’s Proposed Laws: ‘Much Much Worse’!
6. The Real Pirates Are The Anti-Pirate Organizations!
7. Rupert Murdoch’s Rant: Ban Google,No Fair Use (with Video!)