“In November 2020, the UN adopted resolution A/RES/74/198, declaring 2021 the “International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development”. Tabled by Indonesia, it was backed by 81 countries, a ringing endorsement of an often misunderstood and misrepresented piece of the global economy.

But what is the creative economy?

The creative economy is neither new nor novel. If you get your broadcasts online or buy your news from a news stand, subscribe to an entertainment streaming service or go to your local cinema, buy clothes or furniture online or in a mall, read a book or listen to music en route to work, you are consuming a creative product or service.

People conceptualize and arrange this work, then produce or publish it and, ideally, get paid for it. This is no different, really, from other production processes, except that the major input stems from original or copyrightable intellectual property (IP).

The creative economy covers the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the ‘creative industries’ are based. These industries include advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, performing arts, publishing, research and development, software, computer games, electronic publishing and TV/radio.”