IP in the Modern Economy - A Case Study

Don't believe those reports and articles? Think that they are biased and have hidden agendas?

Then let's consider it from the point of view of something we are all familiar with about 10 years ago - Music CDs.

Remember the Backstreet Boys (or Britney Spears)?

I believe their CDs used to retail for about S$30. However, when we went to buy those blank CDs, each blank CD probably only costs about S$0.50. Where did the remaining S$29.50 go to? The answer - the copyright in the contents of the CD. The tangible asset (the physical CD) makes a very small contribution to the actual value of the final product, while the intangible asset (the music, lyrics, sound recording, music videos) is the main driver of value in the final product.

And this was back in 2000 or so.

Modern businesses seek to eliminate tangible assets in the final product altogether. Services such as iTunes and Spotify are clear examples of businesses modelled on products and services based almost entirely on intangible assets.

Leagle Language - The S$100 Legal Information Provider.