Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

3Analysing the creative economy3.3.5 Environmental analysisIn addition to its socio-economic benefits, the creativeeconomy also has an impact on environmental and biodiversityissues. It is difficult to measure the input prices of creativityand environment, which rarely reflect their full value.As supply chains as investigated for environmental, ethicaland sustainability certification, collaborative efforts can bemade to collect data to help determine the portion of productsales proceeds that go towards creative individuals andtheir supporting communities and environments. As notedin the previous chapter, analysis of this data could help toBox 3.3Turtles: Conservation tourism and pricingensure fair sharing of benefits. This data could also help tobuild understanding of the economic contributions ofdesign and cultural influence in creative industries, and helpto provide the economic incentive for improved intellectualproperty regimes.The Creative Economy Report 2008 discussed significantefforts to obtain this kind of information. But trees growfrom seeds, and initiatives like SEE Turtle’s conservationpricing deserve attention as efforts are made to collect policy-relevantdata in the ecotourism industry. Similar effortscan be envisaged for the creative economy.SEE Turtles is a non-profit ecotourism project currently operating in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Going beyond the ecotourism mantra of“leave only footprints”, SEE Turtles suggests that tourists should make a positive impact through conservation tourism — defined as travel that supportsefforts to protect endangered species through fees and donations and benefits local communities. It increases awareness and appreciation forenvironmental and ecological concerns while delivering a much-needed sustainable source of revenue for conservation efforts and a viable economicdevelopment alternative for local communities that have few other options for generating income.SEE Turtles is the first to offer “conservation pricing”, where each tour price lists how much of the cost goes to conservation and local communities.Conservation income pays for measures to protect nesting beaches, hire local residents, conduct scientific research, educate tourists and local residents,and recruit volunteers. Communities benefit from direct and indirect spending at locally owned businesses near sea turtle hots pots. This income helpsresidents value these creatures as an important resource to protect and inspires local support.Source: UNCTAD adaptation from information available at www.seeturtles.org3.3.6 Copyright and intellectual propertyThe relatively new concerns with the creative economyhave highlighted the fact that material goods may be separatedfrom their symbolic, cultural or artistic values through culturalproduction processes, notably via digitization. This isnot a new problem; it is one that intellectual property rights(IPRs) and copyrights seek to address. What is new is the balanceof value divided between the material and the virtual,and the possibility of separating them. Previously, many IPRswere regulated de facto via the regulation of physical goods inwhich these rights were effectively locked up. Much of thecommercialization of the creative industries has involved theinnovation of new ways to lock up valuable IPRs in physicalor virtual containers (encryption is an example). The recognitionthat the intellectual property is where a large share of valueslies has been reflected in the shift by large corporations toinclude IPR and brand value on their balance sheets and topresent them as a core component of company valuations.The challenge for researchers and policymakers as wellas those concerned directly with the creative economy isthreefold: how to measure the value of intellectual property,how to redistribute profits, and how to regulate these activities.As will be further elaborated in chapter 4, the measurementof intellectual property is very difficult using tools thatwere developed mainly to capture the physical movement ofgoods. Regulation and redistribution remain interrelated andproblematic. Poor or irregular distribution of earnings relatedto IPR due mainly to institutional inadequacies underminesthe legitimacy of a legal regime based on IPR.Moreover, there are some structural challenges to policyand practice associated with uneven development. Thecreative industries as a whole are characterized by first-moveradvantage and a winner-takes-all form. Thus, the developedworld is in a strategically very powerful position.Furthermore, the legal resources and techniques elaborated inthe developed world do not mesh with more traditionalmethods of attributing cultural and economic values. Thisleads to the perfectly legal, but morally anomalous, positionof a company from a developed country that can use anunregistered intellectual property in a developing country82 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010