CEO compensation statistics suggest that the commercial threat piracy poses to copyright-intensive industries may be slightly overstated.
--- # [](https://www.innovation-asset.com/) - [Decipher®](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products-decipher) - [Services](https://www.innovation-asset.com/products/professional-services-0) - [Resources](https://www.innovation-asset.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog) - [About Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/about) - [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact) # Innovation Asset Blog # Copyright-intensive businesses yield boardroom benefits by [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Leaders of copyright-intensive industries such as media and software production have recently expressed grave concerns that the ongoing proliferation of digital piracy poses an existential threat to their businesses. A [recent survey](http://infojustice.org/) of CEO compensation conducted by International IP in the Public Interest analysts paints a much different picture, however. Researchers Jonathan Band and Jonathan Gerafi assembled a six-year snapshot of average CEO salaries in motion picture, publishing and software industries. These figures were then compared against corresponding payment in the non-copyright-intensive industries of construction, transportation and mining. Between 2007 and 2012, average executive compensation among copyright-intensive firms grew by 45 percent. This translated to CEOs in these fields seeing an average of 2.8 times more money than their non-copyright-intensive counterparts each year. The largest such discrepancy emerged last year, as motion picture executives earned approximately $25.5 million more than the average CEO of a transportation firm. The implicit irony of these statistics was not lost on the report authors. As Band and Gerafi noted, these skyrocketing salary figures come at a time when copyright-intensive industry heads are suggesting that the scourge of piracy could soon prompt employee layoffs.  ### [Peter Ackerman](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/author/peter-ackerman) Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc. [August 14, 2013](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/copyright-intensive-businesses-yield-boardroom-benefits) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Introducing Decipher® ### Categories - [Intellectual Property Management (459)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/intellectual-property-management) - [Commercialization and Licensing (210)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/commercialization-and-licensing) - [Invention Disclosure (201)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/invention-disclosure) - [Innovation Strategy (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-strategy) - [Ideas for Good (6)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/ideas-for-good) - [Innovation Team (3)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/topic/innovation-team) ### News Archives - [January 2013 (26)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2013/01) - [September 2012 (25)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/09) - [October 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/10) - [November 2012 (22)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/11) - [November 2010 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2010/11) - [February 2011 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2011/02) - [July 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/07) - [December 2012 (21)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/12) - [January 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/01) - [March 2012 (20)](https://www.innovation-asset.com/blog/archive/2012/03) ##### Portland, Oregon USA ##### © Innovation Asset Group, Inc. ##### [Privacy Policy](https://www.innovation-asset.com/privacy-policy/) | [Terms & Conditions](https://www.innovation-asset.com/terms-and-conditions/) | [Contact Us](https://www.innovation-asset.com/contact/) -