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Unpacking predictors of income and income satisfaction for artists
Economic Research Working Paper No. 50
The stereotype of the “starving artist” is pervasive in modern Western culture, but previous research on artists and income is mixed. The goal of this study is to explore how several demographic variables, along with self-reported behaviors and artistic activities associated with non-monetary and monetary motivators, predict income and income satisfaction for artists.Using unique survey data on current working artists in the United States, we provide empirical evidence on substantial reputational rewards and rewards from altruistic behaviors as important sources of artists' utility and, arguably, sources of their motivation to create new works. Moreover, we find that the evidence on “procedural” utility from working in the arts is less straightforward, and we find that many artists are pooling and diversifying financial risks on household levels. Overall, quantitative findings indicate that artists may have different criteria and conceptualizations when it comes to income, and they may derive value from their work in a variety of ways aside from income.
Publication year: 2018
Creators' Income Situation in the Digital Age
Economic Research Working Paper No. 49
The digital transformation imposes both opportunities and risks for creativity and for creative employment, with implications for trends in income levels and the distribution of income. First, we consider skill-biased technological change as a determinant of income and labor market outcomes in the arts. Arguably, the IT revolution has changed the demand for certain skills, with creative occupations being more in demand than general employment. Second, we consider declines in the costs of generating new works and artistic experimentation due to digital technologies, and their effect on the barriers to entry in labor markets. Third, we touch upon the rise of online contract labor in certain creative professions as a determinant of income. Here, online platforms can change creators' access to work opportunities and it may alter the way income is distributed. We find that wage trends for creative workers in the digital age outperform general trends in the population: based on various data sources and various ways to identify creators, we see creators losing less or even gaining a better income position in relative terms. From a policy perspective, results do not lend support to the idea that creators' income situation has systematically worsened with the rise of the internet and its intermediaries. Evidence on changing distributions of income is ambiguous as trends differ from one country to the next.
Intellectual Property and Folk, Arts and Cultural Festivals
Practical Guide
This Guide provides general information about intellectual property (IP) and cultural interests. It identifies the main IP challenges faced by festival organizers and outlines some practical elements of an effective IP management strategy, following a step-by-step approach.
COVID-19 Impact on Artistic Income
Economic Research Working Paper No. 65
This paper assesses the impact of the pandemic crisis on self-employed income among artists resident in Germany. Using unique data from the latest available public insurance records, we show that musicians and performing artists are among the most vulnerable groups, and that writers, on average, are relatively less impacted. Moreover, the paper looks at the impact of the 2020 crisis on income differences by gender, career stages and regions, and it investigates the effect of specific non-pharmaceutical, public intervention implemented in German states.
Publication year: 2021
The Economics of Copyright and the Internet: Moving to an Empirical Assessment Relevant in the Digital Era
Economic Research Working Paper No. 9
Technology and the Internet have triggered important changes to how creative works are created and accessed, and how creators and copyright-based industries generate their revenues. The authors reassess the economics of copyright in the light of these changes. After providing an introduction to the economics of copyright, they analyze the changes to the baseline copyright model triggered by the new technological landscape. Then, they assess the empirical economic work on copyright so far, and suggest future avenues of research and related data needs.
Publication year: 2013
International Survey on Private Copying - Law and Practice 2016
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Dutch collecting society for private copying remunerations, Stichting de Thuiskopie, are pleased to present the fourth joint publication on the law and practice of private copying systems around the world. The survey provides a global view of private copying compensation (also known as private copying levies), an important element of copyright and related rights infrastructure. It aims to facilitate evidence-based decision-making and to provide an update on important developments in the private copying law and practice of countries that have such an exception in their legal arsenals.
Publication year: 2017
International Survey on Text and Image Copyright Levies
2016 Edition
The third ‘International Survey of Text and Image Copyright Levies', jointly published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organizations (IFRRO) builds on and updates the first two surveys published in 2014 and 2015, and analyzes the origins, scope and current use of these levies around the world, and their role in ensuring easy legal access to copyright material. The Survey also shows how and why text and image (TI) levies are different from audio and audio-visual private copying levies. As with the first two surveys, it uses data from IFRRO members, collated and presented by Paul Greenwood, a consultant, with the assistance of representatives of IFRRO members and the IFRRO Secretariat. The methodology and scope are unchanged.