Cultural and creative industries play an important role in modern economies, fostering innovation, creating jobs, and significantly contributing to the economic growth. But their primary role is that of fostering cultural diversity and development of our society, providing an outlet for people’s creativity and expression. Digitalisation and rapid technological progress have created unprecedented opportunities for creators, widening the cultural offer available to the users, who can now partake in creative processes themselves. At the same time, technology has become a crucial intermediary: platforms and their opaque algorithms mediate access to creative goods, acting as gatekeepers, potentially flattening the cultural offering. Digital media creators, searching for new monetization opportunities, dip their toes in advertising, fusing the roles of artists and entrepreneurs more than ever before. The recent advancement in generative AI brings both hope for the automation of menial tasks, freeing creators to do what they love to do, as well as fear that their work will be exploited by big tech and that they will eventually be substituted by machines.

The School aims to provide its participants with a comprehensive understanding of the effects digital technology has on the cultural and creative industries, and how those effects are being addressed by the legislators and policymakers in Europe. The School addresses the current discussions from three perspectives: creativity (copyright), markets (competition) and technology (tech regulation), with each perspective addressed on a separate day.

CREATe, the Centre for Regulation of the Creative Economy, is based at the University of Glasgow, the UK’s fourth oldest university and a member of the elite Russell Group of UK universities. CREATe investigates the future of creative production in the digital age, focusing on creativity, markets and technology.

reCreating Europe (Rethinking digital copyright law for a culturally diverse, accessible, creative Europe) was a European Union funded Horizon 2020 project bringing together ten European institutions under the coordination of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa to rethink digital copyright law for a culturally diverse, accessible, creative Europe.

The Spring School builds on the expertise of CREATe and reCreating Europe project partners.

The following academic speakers and creators have confirmed their participation in the Spring School:

	Dr Konstantina Bania Partner at Geradin Partners, Senior Lecturer at Brunel University London
	Dr Thales Bertaglia Postdoctoral Researcher, Utrecht University, Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance
	Dr Sophie Bishop Associate Professor in Media and Communications, University of Leeds
	Dr Magali Eben Senior Lecturer in Competition Law, CREATe, University of Glasgow
	Prof. Kris Erickson Professor of Social Data Science, CREATe, University of Glasgow
	Dr Ula Furgal Lecturer in Intellectual Property and Information Law, CREATe, University of Glasgow
	Prof. Morten Hviid Professor of Law, University of East Anglia
	Prof. Martin Kretschmer Professor of Intellectual Property Law, CREATe, University of Glasgow
	Prof. Péter Mezei Professor of Law, University of Szeged
	Dr Joost Poort Associate Professor, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam
	Prof. Caterina Sganga Professor of Comparative Private Law, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa

The following creators have confirmed their participation in the Spring School:

	Justin Alae-Carew Head of Games at Blazing Griffin
	Rachel Johnson (aka Kohla) Singer, Songwriter, Producer
	Soorin Shin Visual artist, Designer

The European Copyright Society (ECS) was founded in 2012 with the aim to articulate independent views of the overall public interest on all topics in the field of authors rights, neighbouring rights and related matters. In particular ECS seeks to contribute to the development of EU policy and the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. In 2025, ECS is chaired by CREATe’s Director Professor Martin Kretschmer.

The Spring School coincides with the ninth annual conference of the European Copyright Society, hosted by CREATe on 16 May. Leading copyright scholars will discuss the theme Beyond private law? The regulatory aims of copyright law. ECS speakers will include:

	Prof. Lionel Bently Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Cambridge
	Prof. Valérie Laure Benabou Professor of Private Law, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Paris Saclay)
	Prof. Estelle Derclaye Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nottingham
	Prof. Séverine Dusollier Professor of Intellectual Property, Law School, Sciences Po Paris
	Prof. Christophe Geiger Professor of Law, LUISS Guido Carli University
	Prof. Jonathan Griffiths Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary University of London
	Prof. Bernt Hugenholtz Professor of Information Law, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam
	Dr Martin Husovec Associate Professor of Law, LSE Law School
	Prof. Martin Kretschmer Professor of Intellectual Property Law, CREATe, University of Glasgow
	Prof. Thomas Margoni Research Professor of Intellectual Property Law, KU Leuven
	Prof. Axel Metzger Professor of Civil Law and Intellectual Property Law, Humboldt University Berlin
	Prof. Péter Mezei Professor of Law, University of Szeged
	Prof. Alexander Peukert Professor of civil, commercial and information law, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
	Prof. João Pedro Quintais Associate Professor, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam
	Prof. Ole-Andreas Rognstad Professor, Department of Private Law, University of Oslo
	Prof. Pamela Samuelson Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley Law
	Prof. Martin Senftleben Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam
	Prof. Alain Strowel Professor, Université Saint-Louis (Bruxelles) and UCLouvain
	Prof. Tatiana Eleni Synodinou Professor of Private and Commercial Law, University of Cyprus
	Prof. Mireille van Eechoud Professor of Information Law, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam

Dates: 15-16 and 19-20 May 2025

The School takes place over four days (Thursday – Tuesday), which includes participation in the ECS conference on 16 May. A day excursion to the Scottish Highlands is planned for 17 May.

Fee: 480 GBP

The fee includes tuition, coffee, lunches and welcome reception. It does not include the Saturday excursion to the Scottish Highlands. A limited amount of scholarships is available upon request during the application process. Scholarships amount to a fee waiver and do not cover accommodation or travel costs. Scholarships are not guaranteed and will be confirmed upon acceptance to the School.

Venue: No. 10 Professors’ Square and Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow

CREATe is based on the Gilmorehill campus of the University of Glasgow, with offices in both No. 10 Professors’ Square (School of Law) and the Advanced Research Centre (ARC). The Spring School will take place in both venues – they are within a five-minute walk of each other.

No. 10 Professors’ Square, School of Law This is the venue for Day 1 of the Spring School.

The Advanced Research Centre (ARC) is the venue for Days 2, 3 and 4. On 16 May, the ECS conference takes place in Studio 2, while on 19-20 May, the spring school continues in Room 237 C. Both are on the ground floor of the ARC.

Please note that a more direct route between the two venues suggested by Google Maps is not currently practicable due to construction work on campus.

Should you find the campus difficult to navigate (which can happen the first time around), a member of the CREATe team will wait for any arrivals at 09:15 on Day 1 at the University of Glasgow’s Main Gatehouse.

Travel to and around Glasgow

Glasgow can easily be reached by train, plane, bus, or by car. The University website provides a useful guide to getting to Gilmorehill campus.

Glasgow has what is perhaps the simplest subway in the world: a circle that goes in both directions. Spring school venues are easily accessible from either the Kelvinhall or Hillhead stops.

The two main train stations in the city centre are Glasgow Central Station and Glasgow Queen Street Station, which are each near a subway station: St Enoch, and Buchanan Street, respectively. To get to the University of Glasgow from each of these subway stops, jump on the Inner Circle and get off at Hillhead. It’s less than a 20 minute ride!

The University website also provides more information on public transport in Glasgow.

Staying in Glasgow

Glasgow has many hotels. The University of Glasgow Gilmorehill campus is in the leafy West End of Glasgow. A few hotels within walking distances of campus, for various budgets:

Grosvenor Hotel | 4-star Accommodation West End

Kelvingrove Hotel | 3-star Accommodation Finnieston | Finnieston Hotel Glasgow

Argyll Hotel

Belhaven Hotel

There are also other City Centre accommodation options, such as Blytheswood Square, the Hilton, the Radisson Blu, the Hilton Doubletree, the Marriott, Premier Inn, Holiday Inn.

Preparing for the Spring School

Please have a look at the programme to see what will be covered on each day of the Spring School.  About two weeks before the Spring School, you will receive an email from us with suggested pre-readings, to familiarise yourself a little with the topics beforehand.

We’re planning an excursion to the Highlands during the weekend. Cost details and an Eventbrite registration link will be available in due course.

The School is addressed to doctoral and advanced master students, early career researchers, industry representatives and policy makers with the interest in cultural and creative industries. The School is taught on a postgraduate level and participants should have some prior knowledge on the topic.

The online application is now open here until 10 February 2025.

Upon application, the candidates will be asked to provide a CV and a short statement of motivation, explaining why they want to participate in the School and why they make a good candidate (max 500 words).

The number of School participants is limited to 15-20 people. Candidates will be notified of the application results by 14 February 2025.

In case of questions about the School please contact:

Dr Ula Furgał ula.furgal@glasgow.ac.uk or Dr Magali Eben magali.eben@glasgow.ac.uk