The production of standardized cultural goods - films, radio programmes, magazines, etc. - used to manipulate mass society into passivity arising from companies pursuit of the maximization of profit. - Theodor Adorno & Max Horkheimer, 1947

Those industries that combine the creation, production and commercialization of contents which are intangible and cultural in nature. These contents are typically protected by copyright and they can take the form of goods or service. - UNESCO, 1980

Those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent which have a potential for job and wealth creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. - UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 1997 The most accepted definition internationally. Used by the IDB, OAS, and the British Council.

How people make money from ideas. - John Howkins, 2000

An emerging concept dealing with the interface between creativity, culture, economics and technology in a contemporary word dominated by images, sounds, texts and symbols. - UNCTAD

"Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource." - Richard Florida, 2002

Those industries in which copyright plays an identifiable role in creating tradeable private economic (property) rights and income from use of these economic rights. - WIPO, 2003

Any economic activity producing symbolic products with a heavy reliance on intellectual property and for as wide a market as possible. - UNCTAD XI Ministerial Conference, 2004

The interface between creativity, culture, economics and technology as expressed in the ability to create and circulate intellectual capital, with the potential to generate income, jobs and export earnings while at the same time promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development. -British Council, 2012

The OE is the group of linked activities through which ideas are transformed into cultural goods and services whose value is determined by intellectual property. It encompasses the immense wealth of talent, intellectual property, inter-connectedness and cultural heritage of the Latin American and Caribbean region. - IADB, 2014

Those industries which produce tangible or intangible artistic & creative outputs, (which) have their origin in individual creativity, skill, talent, potential for wealth creation & income generation through the production of & trade in cultural assets and knowledge-based goods and services, both traditional and contemporary; & those sectors that produce goods & services which have a potential for wealth & job creation through the generation & trade of intellectual property. -NCCIC, Jamaica 2015

The creative industries are those sectors that are born out of individual creativity, skill and talent and have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.