Information week links to a report from the Computer and Communications Industry Association calculating that Fair Use exceptions in the US account for $4.5 trillion in annual revenue. They also calculate that the fair use economy is greater than the copyright economy. Given the source of the study, its hard to believe it at face value, since they have an agenda to push. But, its good to see someone pushing back against the **AA’s of the world who want to lock down all content and charge you every time you listen or see it.
CCIA members include Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), and many other tech companies that benefit immensely from fair use. The media also benefits from fair use — quoting the copyrighted CCIA report would be illegal were it not for fair use. The same can be said for anyone who has ever printed copyrighted material from a Web page, sent copyrighted material in an e-mail, or used a recording device of some sort to capture copyrighted audio or video.