This new research was produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), IPO, Imperial College and the creative industries. It suggests that UK investment in copyright was approximately £5.1bn in 2009, or £3.2bn higher than the existing official data reported in the UK National Accounts.
IPO’s chief executive John Alty believes it reflects the increased importance of intellectual property in today’s economy.
"Government policy recognises the vital importance of innovation in the creative sector. It is more important than ever that we should capture this investment in the way we measure the economy – adding to the UK’s economic capability," he said.
"We welcome the drive for good evidence and the collaboration between industry, researchers and Government which has made this work possible."
The research has been developed over the last 12 months as part of the IPO’s economic research programme, and ties in the Conservative Government’s long term ambitions to push the UK as Europe’s tech hub.
It follows the announcement yesterday that the Government is overseeing a wide ranging review of the UK’s communications law, to bring it into line with modern technological standards, and look at issues such as online piracy and censorship.
The Government is already looking at Professor Ian Hargreaves research into IP and copyright, and has proposed a Digital Copyright Exchange, which could boost by the economy by £2bn.
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Research shows that 27% of UK computer users have pirated software on their computers, costing the industry £1.2bn in lost sales.
The Government has already controversially forced ISPs to block torrent hosting website The Pirate Bay, which it claims ‘provides links to illegal content’.
Earlier in the year the US Government’s attempts to introduce far reaching copyright legislation was shot down in flames, an outcome the UK will not want to repeat.
The EU has had similar problems, as its controversial ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) which has been described as ‘a charade’ by one of its investigators, who resigned in protest. The UK is a signatory.
