Debates, copyright and policy
This is my first blog post for mediaenterprise.co.uk and I thought I would start with my recollections from the MA Media and Creative Enterprise so far.
At the beginning of the course I was also taking part in Insight Out: Managing a Portfolio Career, which was fantastic and I feel it has prepared me well for the rest of the MA.
I found a lot of crossover between the Enterprise module and Insight Out, which was helpful because it enabled me to really take in what I have learnt. However, the module I have found most intriguing (and most perplexing at times!) has been Creative Industries and Cultural Policy.
The ‘hot topic’ at the moment seems to be the role of the creative industries in the UK’s economy, and whether the sector can pull us out of recession (and for some people the creative industries also encompasses digital and IT). Several events have taken place during my short time on the MA including Digital District, Hello Digital, the Big Debate and the national Cabinet Forum.
All of them were concerned with the future; how improving Birmingham’s broadband infrastructure could have long-term benefits for SMEs and the economy (Digital District), how the digital industries can pull the UK out of recession (Hello Digital), how Birmingham’s creative industries should band together to try and achieve the same (Big Debate) and so on.
Has there been enough discussion?
Despite those three events dealing with slightly different themes, all pointed towards the creative industries and how they can move forward in Birmingham. Though I found them all interesting and relevant, maybe now it is time for the discussions to stop and action to begin, especially from policy makers.
The biggest event of them all was the Cabinet Forum, simply due to the amount of hugely influential creative workers and policy makers in attendance. One major subject of debate was copyright, which is of particular interest to me due to my involvement in magazine publishing and I will be studying it for my first assignment. Some delegates felt that the copyright debate is getting ‘old’ and the debate needs to move on, others felt that it was a hugely important part of the creative economy and problems with copyright protection in the digital age (such as illegal file sharing) need to be addressed.
As entrepreneurs, there is no doubt that copyright (and intellectual property in general) plays a big part in what we do. If our intellectual property is not protected, our product won’t be unique; it will be exploited and our ideas will not be our own. One such incident happened to me recently when an article I used for my final year degree project was re-used several times by the FA and other companies without my permission (it was a digital magazine and my contact details were clearly visible on the website). I wouldn’t have minded but I wasn’t acknowledged for it. The (c) symbol doesn’t matter to people in the digital age.
On the other hand, people (creatives and consumers) are unwilling to pay for photographs and articles, but there is the compromise of Creative Commons, where authors can make their work available for free as long as they are acknowledged.
On that note, I am going to leave you with a very good talk by Dr Lawrence Lessig (who came up with the idea of Creative Commons) about copyright and current policy.
Image (above) by eschpiul.
Birmingham City University, Creative industries and cultural policy, Enterprise, students | Karen Patel | Friday, November 6, 2009
Really interesting post Karin. I’m glad the Creative Industries and Cultural Policy module is giving you something to think about. And , of course, you are right to ask about ‘action’. Policies need to be put into practice to really make a difference and for us to evaluate the impact. My guess is that in the current climate you will see relatively little ‘action’. Partly because of a lack of funding and perhaps also because we are waiting for the next national elections. It will be interesting to see the implications of policy changes for the creative, cultural and media industries over the next year.
Re the issue of copyright – did you attend the Big Debate and if so, what did you think of Charles Leadbeater’s comments?
Thanks for your comment Annette. I was at the Big Debate for the morning session, and found Charles Leadbeater’s speech very interesting. His suggestions to make Birmingham a home for ‘pirates’ resonated the most amongst everyone and I think he is certainly right, the problem is getting the pirates to come to Birmingham in the first place, and encourage them to stay here. He was also right about ‘including everyone’ in helping to move the city forward in terms of the creative industries and the economy, but of course this is easier said than done. I remember he also mentioned developing solutions online to help solve Birmingham’s social and economic problems, but I don’t see exactly how that is going to work. What about people that are socially excluded/cannot use the internet/cannot access the internet? Certain groups in society are not being paid enough attention when it comes to discussions such as these, and maybe this is something worth investigating.