Intellectual Property Theft at Scale

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence estimated in 2015 that intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy $400 billion annually.

Here’s what $400 billion looks like in context.

States with GDPs less than $400 billion (2017)

StatesGDP (in Billions)
New Mexico
388.4
Hawaii
352.5
New Hampshire
322.1
West Virginia
307.2
Delaware
294.2
Idaho
287.5
Maine
245.6
Rhode Island
237.8
North Dakota
222.0
Alaska
211.2
South Dakota
199.7
Montana
192.4
Wyoming
161.1
Vermont
128.8

161 out of 168 countries have an annual GDP below $400 billion (as recognized by The World Bank).

$400 billion lost to IP infringement is the equivalent of:

  • 27 billion books sold ($15)
    That is 39.6 times larger than the entire print industry in 2016.
  • 44 billion movie tickets ($9.16)
    That’s more than the 43 billion movie tickets sold cumulatively since 1986.
  • 533 months (44 years) of premium subscriptions for the current 75 million Spotify users. ($9.99)
    1 month Spotify subscription for 75 million users ($749.25 million)

IP Theft is larger than the worldwide box office of the top 5 franchises…combined.

Movie FranchisesBillions of Dollars
Marvel Cinematic Universe
16.856
Star Wars
9.242
Harry Potter
8.532
James Bond
7.077
Lord of the Rings
5.895

Created by cybersecurity@berkeley, the online masters in cybersecurity from UC Berkeley

Sources
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/72450-print-book-sales-rose-again-in-2016.html
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/
https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises/sort/World
https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/02/spotify-75-million-paid-subscribers-q1-2018/

UC Berkeley School of Information

Phone Number: 855-860-5259
Email Address: admissions@cybersecurity.berkeley.edu

Legal

© 2021 UC Berkeley School of Information.