http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/ First_Ever_Economic_Study_Calculates_Dollar_Value_of.shtml Sep 12, 2007 WASHINGTON D.C. - Fair Use exceptions to U.S. copyright laws are responsible for more than $4.5 trillion in annual revenue for the United States, according to the findings of an unprecedented economic study released today. According to the study commissioned by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and conducted in accordance with a World Intellectual Property Organization methodology, companies benefiting from limitations on copyright- holders' exclusive rights, such as fair use generate substantial revenue, employ millions of workers, and, in 2006, represented one- sixth of total U.S. GDP. http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/uploads/1/FairUseStudy-Sep12.pdf -- full study Jeremy Hunsinger Information Ethics Fellow, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (www.cipr.uwm.edu) Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. --Byron