Copyright comes third in leading Australian industry sectors

A report released today by professional services network PwC has revealed that the copyright industry is the third largest sector of the Australian economy.

The PwC report, released by the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), found that the copyright industry was behind financial and insurance services, and construction, but well ahead of manufacturing, education, retail, hospitality and agriculture.

“Copyright-related GDP in Australia is higher than in other similar sized economies such as Singapore, Canada and the Netherlands”, said ACC chair Kate Haddock.

She added: “copyright is sometimes treated as a side issue by policy makers, however this report demonstrates that in the digital age, copyright industries are a critical driver of the Australian economy.”

The report looked at the period between January and December 2016, and found the copyright industry contributed A$122.8 billion ($95 bilion) to the Australian economy, which is 7.4% of overall GDP.

Alongside this, it employed over one million people.

“These figures show a growth trend which suggests that Australian copyright industries are successfully responding to disruptive market forces,” said Fiona Phillips, CEO of the ACC.

“Although there has been some decline in areas of copyright industries, strong growth in software as well as music and theatrical productions has seen strong overall growth of the sector.”

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