What are Cultural Industries?

What are “cultural industries”? According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), they constitute a sector where the creation, production and marketing of goods and services are combined. Their special nature lies in the intangibility of their cultural content, which is generally protected by copyright.

“Cultural industries” covers film production, the audiovisual sphere, the printed word and also multimedia (a sector that is in full expansion and breaking all production records, even in non-industrialised countries). However, there is still some dispute as to the definition of this sector. Some countries include architecture, the performing arts, and even the plastic arts and cultural tourism. Download the working paper here.