Famous athletes and performers also control use of their names and images. Michael Jordan, the former star of the Chicago Bulls, is said to have made more money from that source than from playing basketball. Yet again, as Bette Midler demonstrated, celebrities may be motivated by more than economic interests. GATT is predicted to adds hundreds of billions of dollars to world trade. Because firms have long complained about yearly losses billions of dollars to uncompensated intellectual property use, they lobby for better recognition of IPRs.
Firms also form collectives to increase their leverage.
The Coalition even maintains a web site to publicize its members' problems. Yet, it is often difficult to change IP laws. U.S. patent changes, for example, have been strongly resisted by small firms and individual inventors. Although large firms must view patents as both shield and sword, others may perceive that only large firms benefit. This is demonstrably inaccurate.