Intellectual property and its contribution to economic growth

---

Pete Wishart MP says the government must ensure that the valuable role of Intellectual Property is respected and assess the true cost of undermining our creative industries.

Down at the O2 in a couple of weeks' time, the BRITS will celebrate the UK's place as the greatest exporter of musical talent in the world. And as we get into the awards season, it is worth reminding ourselves of the contribution that industries based on intellectual property (IP) make to the economy.

We excel in all creative exports and, over the years, the UK has produced the most innovative and diverse range of creative talent. We have been successful because, as well as having this incredible talent and imagination, we have been able to harness and nurture it, to invest in it and ensure that it is supported.

Intellectual property and copyright are fundamental to the wellbeing of our economy, accounting for about eight per cent of our total gross domestic product. Some £65bn was invested in intellectual property in the UK in 2010, and the creative industries alone account for 2.7 million jobs.

It is perhaps the fastest-growing sector of our economy, and probably the best driver we have to get us out of this current economic downturn.

But there is now an emerging threat to this success story, and it has come from the most unlikely of sources, because it comes from within government itself.

Right now our creative industries have never felt so under siege and so undermined. There is a real sense of being undervalued and there is frustration that government simply isn’t listening to the voices of our creative industries and our artists.

What we have is a government that seems to be more interested in pursuing the interests and rights of companies like Google who profit from the content of others, rather than those who produce that content in the first place.

For some, the artist and creator has become a massive inconvienence, an after-thought that must be managed and grudgingly accommodated.

The Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property is the driver and the engine of this change of tone and emphasis.

Ian Hargreaves was tasked by the prime minister to look for changes in UK IP law that could stimulate economic growth. His contention was that our IP laws were too restrictive and would deter the creation of a Google in the UK. Since then the interests of content users such as Google have underpinned and informed practically every turn.

Based on economic assumptions that can only be described as ‘heroic’, Hargreaves and the Intellectual Property Office, in their various economic impact assessments, have come up with some incredible conclusions that make no attempt to measure the potential cost to existing businesses, while transferring creative activity to US west coast internet giants.

We are currently on a dangerous path where the users of content are now more important than the creators.

The government must now reconsider, ensure that IP is respected, and assess the true cost of undermining our creative industries.

Pete Wisharthas been SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire since 2001.