This chapter explores the interaction between copyright and everyday life of artists in the digital environment. It focuses on the role of copyright in the every day context of a specific creative activity: digital art practice. It draws upon findings from a qualitative empirical study consisting of first-hand accounts from digital artists on their perspective and practice on matters such as creation, dissemination and exploitation of their artworks. The chapter provides a flavour of the life that copyright law and policy take, in ways which contrast with their own purpose, because of the various connections and complexities between the digital artist and other actors in an artistic practice. It emphasises that understandings of ‘copyright in action’ in new creative activities in the digital environment, particularly through the creators’ perspective, can offer valuable insights for policy making.

In this paper we will present our AHRC Digital Transformations Programme funded project. This project defines the Digital Manual as a model of emergent multi-authored publication employing open source and co-creative practices. The key aim of the project is the development of a multi-disciplinary research network of experts on the topic (academics, practitioners and artists) that, first, interacts on the issues surrounding creation and publication of the Digital Manual during the six month period of the project and, second, is charged with a generative role in determining related research questions and activities thereafter with a view to seeking a longer and larger grant to explore those questions. The development of such a research network is aided and informed by a scoping study of four open source creative communities and a research workshop in early July.

An audio visual recording of the conference presentation is available at the following link:
http://bambuser.com/channel/ELMCIP

Recent years have seen increasing emphasis on developing innovative assessment models in higher education. This presentation will discuss 3 case studies demonstrating use of innovative assessment in IP at Masters level: a poster exercise; a draft consultation response; and an ongoing wiki case study. We will outline positive experiences showing how these support student learning by complementing traditional methods of assessment and promoting a range of ‘real-world’ skills such as communication, problem-solving, collaborating, advising, advocacy and appreciation of legal issues in a policy context. We will also reflect on challenges in setting instructions, applying assessment criteria and addressing student expectations.

http://www.eiptn.org/Prague/Presentations/Kheria%20&%20Cornwell.pdf

http://www.slsa.ac.uk/content/view/288/327/

Copyright law has faced considerable challenges, both conceptual and practical, from the onslaught of digital technologies and consequently been strengthened. The digital environment enables creation of not only many different types of creative works in which copyright may or may not subsist, but also facilitates their creation, dissemination and experience in very diverse contexts and manifestations in different forms, both of which are continually growing in number. One of such contexts is digital art practice. This paper focuses on the interaction of copyright with the everyday life of creators and draws upon the findings of my earlier research, where I used first hand accounts from digital artists to explore what copyright law means in the local context of their creative practice based in the digital environment. It questions and explores possible routes of taking such findings forward, including investigating the emerging and prevalent business models in the area of new media art and the role played by copyright law in such models.

The digital environment enables creation of not only many different types of creative works in which copyright may or may not subsist, but also facilitates their creation, dissemination and experience in very diverse contexts and manifestations in different forms, both of which are continually growing in number. The creative industries in this backdrop are being viewed as key economic players by the government. Individual creators form an equally important part of the same as the small and big firms and cultural institutions. This paper focuses on the individual creator and explores the relationship between creativity and copyright in an artistic practice based in the digital environment. In particular, it presents some case studies and through them examines how creativity and copyright (both in its theoretical underpinnings and practical form) enable and disable each other in the day to day practice of the artist; and investigates how artists cope with such a schizophrenic position.

Copyright protection has been justified on different grounds but monetary incentive based theories have played an important role in copyright policy in the Anglo American jurisdictions. From the Statute of Anne to the recent Gowers Review of Intellectual Property in the UK the incentive-analysis has only strengthened its grip as a justification. For legal purposes, the main criticism for such utilitarian argument is whether such incentive is necessary at all. This paper will explore this criticism through the application of the incentive analysis, so far as it bites at the point of creation, both in an analog context and in the digital environment.

In this respect the key sub-questions - does copyright protection in fact create an incentive for production and whether creative production would continue without such incentive will be analyzed. An additional important question, whether copyright protection can provide an incentive” will be posed and the role of artistic motivation on such issue which has been largely under recognized will be explored. This analysis will be done using existing literature from law, economics and sociology and findings from an empirical study conducted with artists working in the digital environment.

Copyright law emerged with the advent of the printing press of mass type and has evolved as newer technologies have emerged. Today it faces considerable challenges, both conceptual and practical, from the onslaught of digital technologies.

The legal discourse on such challenges has been primarily theoretical and examined through the lens of technology, history and economics. But any input from the key human player, the author, has remained mostly absent from this discourse. This paper presents the key findings from the author's doctoral research project which takes as it starting point the inclusion of this human element in the discourse by employing socio-legal methodology.

The objective of the research was to understand the artists' perception of present copyright law and it's role in their creative practice. As part of the research, a qualitative empirical study was conducted with digital artists based in UK and Ireland. The study uncovered interpretations of the artists as to key concepts in copyright law like author, work and relationship of author with the work; and their motivations and experiences in protecting their work. The findings were then used to take a fresh look at the conceptual challenges faced by copyright and related rights in the digital environment.

http://www.cippm.org.uk/symposia/symposium-2009.html

Digital technology brought ‘authors’ opportunities for creativity like never before but also posed important hurdles for the doctrines of copyright and moral rights. It prompted legislative developments at international level to strengthen existing copyright law in favour of right holders, while moral rights remained acknowledged but ignored; and also led to an extensive theoretical debate in the academic world, which continues till today. The focus in both legislative developments and academic literature has remained around technical issues of digitization, concerns of businesses and economic efficiency, effects on cultural and social aspects of society and balance between private rights and larger public interest. Remarkably, there aren’t sufficient empirical studies to back such claims. More importantly, despite the excuse of “protection of authors” being used to bring in legislative changes and “nature of authorship” being discussed widely in the literature, the voices of the “authors” remain absent. Both, the strong need for empirical research in this area and the potential for such studies to make a significant contribution to existing theoretical knowledge have been pointed out but remain unaddressed.

This paper first outlines the studies carried out in the UK in the last decade involving artists or addressing their perspective in relation to the copyright issues as outlined above. It summarizes the nature and objectives of the same and also points out how such empirical studies remain few and far between. Second, the paper examines the methodological issues in designing and conducting a study involving interviews with artists drawing on insights derived from a qualitative research on the perspective of digital artists in the UK and Ireland, on the process of creation and the laws protecting authors in the digital environment. It describes methodological issues relating to data collection like sampling, access, mode of interview and overall study design. The paper also goes on to make some recommendations for conducting qualitative interviews with this sample group.

This paper outlines the position of artists' contribution to formulation of copyright laws in the UK. Digital technology brought `authors' opportunities for creativity like never before but also posed important hurdles for the doctrines of copyright and moral rights. It prompted legislative developments at international level to strengthen existing copyright law in favour of right holders, while moral rights remained acknowledged but ignored; and also led to an extensive theoretical debate in the academic world, which continues till today. The focus in both legislative developments and academic literature has remained around technical issues of digitization, concerns of businesses and economic efficiency, effects on cultural and social aspects of society and balance between private rights and larger public interest. Remarkably, there aren't sufficient empirical studies to back such claims. More importantly, despite the excuse of “protection of authors” being used to bring in legislative changes and “nature of authorship” being discussed widely in the literature, the voices of the “authors” remain absent. Both, the strong need for empirical research in this area and the potential for such studies to make a significant contribution to existing theoretical knowledge have been pointed out but remain unaddressed. This paper first outlines the studies carried out in the UK in the last decade involving artists or addressing their perspective in relation to the copyright and related rights as outlined above. It summarizes the nature and objectives of the same and also points out how such empirical studies remain few and far between. Second, the paper also outlines the contribution of and representation from artists to the major government consultations on copyright and related laws in the UK.

This paper examines the arguments put forward in the debate on protecting moral rights in the
digital environment. In identifying the themes occupying the debate, it seeks to highlight and
illustrate the issues overlooked therein. Specifically it points out how the ‘authors’ perspective’
has remained significantly absent, underrepresented or ignored in the debate. The paper then
goes on to address the desirability of including authors’ perspective to the debate in giving
credibility to the arguments already put forward and generating newer themes to take the debate
a step further and the importance and applicability of socio-legal approach in achieving the same.

http://www.bileta.ac.uk/content/files/conference%20papers/2007/Moral%20rights%20in%20the%20Digital%20Environment%20-%20%27Authors%27%20absence%20from%20Authors%27%20rights%20debate.pdf