The Copyright Alliance has sent a letter to Donald Trump urging the new President to "support a strong and vibrant copyright system in the US”.
The letter also calls on Trump to “protect copyright holders from online theft and ensure that creators share in the massive profits being made by internet platforms from these copyrighted works”.
In a letter dated January 23 Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of Washington DC-based Copyright Alliance, which represents over 1.8 million individual creators and 13,000 trade organisations and companies, asked President Trump "to stand with American creators and innovators by promoting and preserving the value of copyright in United States and abroad."
The letter included the Copyright Alliance’s Policy Framework, which calls for strong copyright protection.
“Throughout the long history of our country, few, if any, Presidents have had a more sizable and diverse copyright portfolio than you. Your experiences as a businessman have afforded you insights into the value and importance of copyright and how copyright protections help drive the US economy and create millions of well-paying jobs and small businesses,” wrote Kupferschmid.
Kupferschmid added that “few laws and few industries do more to support and propel the U.S. economy and to generate a positive trade balance than copyright law and the copyright industries.” He noted that in 2015, the core copyright industries added $1.2 trillion to the US GDP and employed nearly 5.5 million men and women, with average compensation 38% higher than the average for all US workers.
“These statistics further prove that a strong copyright system that rewards creativity and discourages piracy is essential to a healthy and vibrant economy,” Kupferschmid concluded. “The prevalence of piracy in the internet age is a blight on the US economy and culture. Weakening copyright or making it harder for creators and small businesses to obtain or maintain their protections, weakens the value proposition for creators and small businesses and may result in fewer jobs in the copyright industries. We need to enhance the protections afforded to the creative communities, not dilute them.”
The Copyright Alliance letter to President Trump can be found here.
