ITA: U.S. media, entertainment trade to hit $771b in 2019

According to a recent report from the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, global trade in U.S. media and entertainment goods in the next three years is expected to increase 8.3 percent from $712 billion in 2016.    The global trade in U.S. media and entertainment goods is expected increase to $771 billion by 2019, the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) said in a recent report.
   This is a projected increase of 8.3 percent from $712 billion in 2016, according to the ITA’s 2017 Top Markets Report Media and Entertainment Sector Snapshot, which was released on Thursday.
   The world’s second largest market for media and entertainment is China at $190 billion. Other large markets are the United Kingdom, Canada, India and Brazil.
   Exports of media and entertainment goods include books, CDs, game consoles, production equipment and instruments and, the largest component, content.
   “The broader copyright intensive sectors, which includes software, constitute an exporting powerhouse, with overseas sales of $177 billion in 2015, far higher than the next leading U.S. export sectors of chemicals ($135.8 billion) and aerospace ($134.6 billion),” the report said.
   The biggest hurdle faced by companies engaged in these products is piracy and copyright infringement. 
   “It is difficult to quantify losses from piracy and to calculate piracy rates accurately,” the report said. “Therefore many industry groups and businesses track piracy around the clock, and online takedown notices are rising dramatically as a result.”