Book Now: CREATe Online Public Lecture ‘Reflecting on the Public Voice in Copyright Consultations’

Posted on November 10, 2020 by

We are delighted to open booking for our first Public Lecture of the 2020-2021 academic year. Although we are unable to hold the event in the University of Glasgow's beautiful Humanities Lecture Theatre as usual, we will be hosting it online. We hope this will allow a new and wider audience to access the lecture.

The talk before the lecture and contributions from the discussants will present a range of perspectives on copyright consultations, and attendees will be able to submit questions during the lecture for a Q&A session at the end. Or questions can be emailed to contact@create.ac.uk prior to the lecture.

This event has ended but you can watch it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVuWX8NMtq4

Public consultation event for the project

Improving Deliberation, Improving Copyright: Reflecting on the Public Voice in Copyright Consultations

Speakers: Lee Edwards and Giles Moss
Pre-talk: The Implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (Ula Furgal, editor of  https://www.create.ac.uk/cdsm-implementation-resource-page/)
Discussants: Ian Hargreaves ("Hargreaves Review"), Aline Iramina (on secondment from Federal Government of Brazil), Martin Senftleben (IViR), and Martin Kretschmer (chair)
Date: Wednesday 25 November 17:30-19:00 GMT

Abstract: In this talk and discussion, Dr Lee Edwards and Dr Giles Moss will present their work on engaging the public in consultations about copyright policy. Over the past three years, they have challenged the tropes that copyright policy is too complex, too boring or too abstract for the public to be interested in, by running deliberative events and discussions about copyright with a wide range of citizens. Their findings suggest that, if members of the public are given enough information and time to learn about the topic, they have plenty of opinions and insights to share with policymakers. Moreover, in their latest research, Edwards and Moss have adopted a deliberative approach to copyright consultations, to explore how the overall process can be improved and the public engaged more effectively. Following a brief presentation of the main insights from their research, Lee Edwards and Giles Moss will discuss with Ian Hargreaves, Aline Iramina, Ula Furgal, Martin Senftleben and Martin Kretschmer if better consultations are possible, drawing on concrete examples of copyright policymaking.

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IP Reading Group: Inspiring IP reading recommendations

Posted on November 16, 2020 by

With our large cohort of new PGRs, the latest discussions in our IP Reading Group focussed on the readings that have inspired our research, whether as a starting point for a new project, or as a continuing source of motivation throughout our thesis. This blog provides a summary of selected recommended inspiring readings from an array of different perspectives, from socio-legal methodologies, to cultural heritage studies, and of course – Lessig.

Janet Burgess

Cotterrell, R. (1984) The Sociology of Law: An Introduction. London: Butterworths.

Bingham, T. (2011) The Rule of Law. Penguin Books Ltd.

My research investigates how amateur musicians negotiate copyright law, and the two passages below were instrumental in clarifying the direction of my thoughts.

The first is by Roger Cotterrell, a distinguished academic and prolific commentator on socio-legal issues:

‘Suppose that a new piece of legislation comes into existence, created in the proper formal manner by an accepted law-making institution.  What happens?  […] Does the law somehow reach the world beyond this rarefied professional sphere?  If so, in what way?  With what effect?’ (Cotterrell, p1)

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‘Who’s Zoomin Who?’: Music, Copyright and Precarity’, 7pm, Thursday 12 November

Posted on November 6, 2020 by

Click here or the image above for booking details

As part of the Being Human Festival and ESRC Festival of Social Science, CREATe’s Kenny Barr and Janet Burgess, together with Casi Dylan (SCCA) are holding a great event entitled ‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who?’ Music, Copyright and Precarity.

The event is part gig, part debate, and will explore the precarious nature of music-making, the role copyright plays in contemporary music sectors, and examine ways in which music creators and performers have responded to the challenges presented by lockdown restrictions.

The event is aimed at anyone who’s interested in music, irrespective of whether they’re a practising musician or not, and features Simon Anderson (Composer/Music Publisher/PRS for Music), Matt Brennan (Reader in Popular Music, UofG aka Citizen Bravo), Katy Cooper (UofG Director of Chapel Music) with contributions from local artist Carla J. Easton, along with Ariel Sharratt and Mathias Kom from Canadian band The Burning Hell.

Bookings via https://music-copyright-and-precarity.eventbrite.co.uk

 

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CREATe 2020 Onwards: new PhDs, new staff, new projects

Posted on October 18, 2020 by

As we embark on the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year, it is a good time to take an overview of our current upcoming projects, and note some changes to the CREATe Team and Researcher community.

A sneak preview of the new CREATe website … Illustration by Collage Creativi based on plans for the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878).

A significant area of CREATe work will continue to be the workstrand on Intellectual Property, Business Models, Access to Finance and Content Regulation in the AHRC Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC), until 2023. Within this work falls the Platform Regulation project, which provides an empirical mapping of the UK regulatory landscape and looks ahead to potential new responsibilities.

Another aspect is developing our digital tools that allow policymakers and researchers access to evidence in a useful and innovative manner. We have catalogued 800 empirical studies with close user involvement, drawing on Wiki technology, in our Copyright Evidence Wiki. A new Copyright Evidence Portal – building upon the Wiki, including an innovative visualisation tool to intuitively explore existing empirical evidence – will be launched in the next months.

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New Working Paper – Memes and Parasites: A discourse analysis of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive

Posted on October 16, 2020 by

CREATe presents the tenth entry into our series of working papers released in 2020: “Memes and Parasites: A discourse analysis of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive” by Dr Ula Furgal, Prof. Martin Kretschmer and Amy Thomas.

As we pass the fourth anniversary of the proposal for the Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) Directive, this working paper looks to the past to reflect on the discourses that led us to its adoption.

Throughout the formation of the Directive we all found ourselves embroiled in the discussions surrounding its development: Dr Furgal’s doctoral research focused on the press publishers’ right, whilst CREATe’s Copyright Reform resource page collected and continues to offer a trove of data to consult and find meaning in. In particular, we were curious as to how the Directive evolved from its original aim of harmonising copyright with a view of creating a digital single market, to determining the ‘life and death’ of media or challenging the dominance of the US ‘parasite’ platforms (summarised in a presentation by Prof. Kretschmer at re:publica, recording available here). What changed this narrative and how can we evidence these changes?

Focusing on the Directive’s two most contentious provisions: Articles 11 (press publishers’ right) and 13 (intermediary liability), our research offers an explanation of these changes. We conduct a discourse analysis of three sets of primary sources: transcriptions of the EP plenary debates, stakeholders’ submissions and press releases of the EU institutions, which leads us to uncover four topoi that dominate the debate: (a) Technocratic; (b) Value gap; (c) Internet freedoms; (d) European identity.  Each topos has temporal elements that evolve into sophisticated discourse strategies, and can be linked to the changes in Articles 11 and 13 (now Articles 15 and 17).

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Copyright Evidence Wiki October 2020 Round-Up

Posted on October 15, 2020 by

This is part of a series of summary posts rounding-up new entries to the Copyright Evidence Wiki (organised thematically). As part of CREATe’s workstream for the AHRC Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, the Wiki catalogues empirical studies on copyright. This month, Dr Kenny Barr summarises new featured studies on the closely related issues of: copyright term; reversionary rights and public domain; and digitalisation of culture.

Copyright Term Extension

Among the most contentious aspects of copyright is its temporal scope. Debates around how long copyright should endure have been central to copyright discourse throughout history. The Statute of Anne, Lord Macaulay’s 1841 ‘evil of monopoly’ speech, through to the recent successful campaign by content industries and prominent creators to extend sound recording copyright from 50 to 70 years in the EU in 2013 serve as examples. It follows that empirical evidence has been deployed by scholars, policymakers and industry lobbyists alike in support of varying, but often conflicting, arguments as to the optimal duration of copyright term. Recent entries on Copyright Evidence Wiki are highly relevant to these matters. Continue reading →

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CREATe online seminars with our new postdoctoral researchers this semester

Posted on October 9, 2020 by

CREATe is happy to announce a series of seminars with our early career researchers, which will be held online.

Can 3D technology change the way we view the ownership of cultural heritage?

The first seminar with Dr Pınar Oruç our new postdoctoral colleague, will take place on Monday 12 October at 2.30pm and will be chaired by Dr Marta Iljadica, CREATe Co-Director and Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law. 

Short Bio: Pinar completed her PhD titled ‘The Role of Copyright in the Digitisation of Cultural Heritage’ at Queen Mary University of London. She also holds an LLM from Cardiff University and a BA in Law from Koc University. She has previously worked in QMUL, UCL and University of Essex.  

Abstract: Making reproductions of cultural heritage is already a common practice, but the developments in the 3D technology allow making faster and more accurate copies of the existing works. This presentation will examine whether this technology can change how we view the ownership of cultural heritage by questioning (i) how 3D technology can help heritage, (ii) how it affects restitution dynamics, (iii) how it can create new copyright ownership and (iv) who holds the scans when the original artefacts are returned. It will be discussed whether 3D technology can reduce longstanding restitution claims or complicate the matters even further.

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Making Google and Facebook pay? Comparing the EU press publishers’ right and Australian Draft Media Bargaining Code

Posted on September 15, 2020 by

A public consultation submission by CREATe and IPRIA

The tension between news media and digital platforms has been growing for years. While going through financial difficulties caused by the adaptation to the new digital reality, news media organisations strongly object to platforms using their content for free. The EU has already made its decision on how to address this tension: in April 2019 it adopted a neighbouring right for press publishers as a part of the new Copyright Directive. Australia is currently in the process of shaping its approach, but we already know it will be different to the European, with the Morrison Government taking a course on competition rather than copyright regulation.

On 31 July, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) put forward a Draft Media Bargaining Code, opening it for public consultation. CREATe together with the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia (IPRIA) has filed a joint submission to the consultation. The submission, prepared by Ula Furgał (CREATe), Rebecca Giblin (University of Melbourne) and Julie Clarke (University of Melbourne) recommends amendments and clarifications to the Draft Code’s text on the following issues:

  • guarantee of remuneration to journalists;
  • criteria for becoming a registered news business, especially a revenue test;  
  • minimum standards, particularly requirements posed by section 52M of the Code;
  • actions covered by the Code and the concept of “making available of new content”;
  • possibility to opt out from having news content included in a platform’s service and its effects on users;  
  • the non-discrimination rule and the must carry obligation it implies as sole legal basis for bargaining;
  • one-size-fits-all approach which does not account for differences between services Code covers.

The full text of the submission can be accessed here.

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Report: CREATe PGR students present at UofG School of Law “Work in Progress” Session

Posted on September 18, 2020 by and

Some of our CREATe PGRs (L-R): Jie Liu, Zihao Li, Methinee Suwannakit and Jiarong Zhang (pre-social distancing!)

On 31 July 2020 CREATe PGRs participated in the University of Glasgow School of Law virtual PGR ‘Work in Progress’ session, sharing their updates under the Law and Technology (Methinee Suwannakit and Zihao Li), Social, Economic and Cultural Rights Recognition (Jiarong Zhang) and Copyright (Janet Burgess and Jie Liu) panels. Amy Thomas (RTA, Copyright Evidence Wiki Sub-Editor), one of the co-organisers of the PGR workshop, also chaired the Q&A sessions for the Social, Economic and Cultural Rights Recognition and Copyright sessions. This blog provides a summary of the PGR presentations, with some reflections on their experiences, valued feedback and future research directions.

Law and Technology

Beginning the session, the Law and Technology panel approached legal issues in the digital environment from multiple perspectives, including finance, tort and privacy law (ending in a topical discussion on blockchain and COVID contact tracing apps). Continue reading →

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New Working Paper: After the post-public sphere

Posted on September 7, 2020 by

CREATe presents the ninth entry into our series of working papers released in 2020: “After the post-public sphere” by Prof. Philip Schlesinger (Professor in Cultural Theory, Centre for Cultural Policy Research and Deputy Director of CREATe, University of Glasgow).

Sometimes, the purport of what you’re writing becomes increasingly clear in the process of composition, writes Philip Schlesinger. That has been the case for this Working Paper. I began by revisiting the public sphere, a topic I had set aside for well over a decade. In the present paper, I argue that in capitalist democracies we find ourselves in a transitional phase of indeterminate duration, in an increasingly significant break with earlier conceptions of the public sphere. The best way of describing the present state of affairs, therefore, is as an unstable ‘post-public sphere’. To name something ‘post’-this or -that often reflects our perplexity rather than offering a good analytical solution to a problem. Although we know a given social formation has largely disintegrated, we don’t yet know what the future will bring, although there may well be intimations.

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