Copyrighted
works have important social and cultural functions in contemporary societies.
Works protected by copyright and industries that exploit copyrighted material
are also important factors from an economic perspective. Copyrighted works
contribute to their surrounding economy during the process in which they are
created, reproduced, distributed and used. Hence, it can be stated that the
creation of a work is merely the starting point in its exploitation as it can
also act as an input for other activities. Previous studies in Finland have
shown that the economic contribution of the so-called copyright-based
industries can exceed that of traditional industries like the production of
food and beverages and the manufacture of electronics and equipment. This paper
examines core copyright industries from the macro-economic view using so called
WIPO Methodology. In 2002, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
launched an initiative to develop a practical tool to view copyright-based
industries’ economic contribution. The widely adopted The WIPO Guide on
Surveying the Economic Contribution of the Copyright-Based Industries was
published in 2003 and revised in 2015. The aim of this paper is to calculate
the development of value-added and employment of core copyright industries over
a period of ten years and try to assess, if the digitalization has affected the
economic contribution of these industries. This research paper looks into the
division of core copyright industries, as defined in the WIPO guide, assessing
their overall contribution[1]
to the aggregate value added produced in Finland, as well as to the Finnish
employment. In addition, some of the sub-industries are examined in detail.

The
economic contribution of the core copyright industries to the Finnish economy
is significant and it has increased during the last ten years. Digitalization
has, however, to at least some extinct influenced to the development of the
sub-sectors within the core copyright industries. The contribution, both in
value added and in employment, of the traditional media industries has declined
while the contribution of the software industry has clearly increased.

[1] The WIPO Guide 2015
categorises the copyright-based industries into four main groups, namely the
core copyright industries, the interdependent copyright industries, the partial
copyright industries and the non-dedicated support industries. This research paper
concentrates solely on the core copyright industries.