A new report shows that the creative industries whose businesses are built on copyright generated over $1.1 trillion dollars and 5.5 million jobs for the U.S. economy in 2013, an increase from 2012 numbers. Creative industries grew at a faster rate (3.9%) than the overall U.S. economy (2.25%) from 2009 to 2013.

The report reviewed the economic contribution of a broad spectrum of industries responsible for the creation and distribution of creative content, including books, journals, music, film, television, software, and video games.  In total, copyright industries contributed $156 billion in foreign sales and exports.

Other key findings:

• The $1.1 trillion dollars in value added to U.S. GDP accounted for 6.71% of the U.S. economy.
• The 5.5 million employed workers accounted for 4.03% of the entire U.S. workforce and 4.81% of total private employment in the U.S.
• The 3.9% aggregate annual rate of growth by the core copyright industries is more than 70% higher than the 2.23% rate of growth of the U.S. economy during the same period (2009-2013).
• The $156 billion in foreign sales and exports of copyright content exceeds foreign sales of several major U.S. industries, including chemicals ($147.8 billion), aerospace ($128.3 billion), agriculture ($68.9 billion), and pharmaceuticals ($51.6 billion).

Creative industries are the cultural fabric of our world. They are also an important economic driver, in terms of jobs, wages, and international trade. Copyright is what makes these economic benefits possible.