Copyright Education and Awareness Symposium

One of the symposium panellists 

From 1709 Blog friend Nic Fearon-Low (UK Intellectual Property Office) comes the news of a forthcoming event that looks fairly interesting.

Here's what Nic writes:

"What would bring together representatives from the creative industries, academics and policymakers? A chance to discuss how to improve the impact of copyright education initiatives and the research that informs and underpins them? Yes indeed!

On 24 May the BPI will play host to a gathering of people across these communities to assess the effectiveness of copyright education and get a grip on what research and initiatives are out there, what is working and what can be improved as we look ahead.

Creativity and innovation are important drivers of economic development.  They are crucial to the character of our society. Too often a lack of understanding or respect for the work of others means that creators are not properly recognised or rewarded for their work. The challenge is to educate people, particularly the next generations of consumers and creators, as to the value of IP and especially copyright.

The response to this challenge from industry, academia, government and others has been to come up with a range of initiatives to help improve understanding and change behaviour, from the work of Creative Content UK and the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, Into Film and Copyright User, to games, competitions and resources generated by the IPO. And increasingly much of this work is being done in collaboration. As Mike Weatherley – the Prime Minister’s former IP adviser pointed out - there is scope for more and greater collaboration, sharing of insight and resources in order to have a greater impact.

This is where the Copyright Education Symposium comes in. Sponsored by CREATe, ALCS, CLA, ERA, PRS for Music, The Industry Trust for IP Awareness and supported by the IPO, the event will be opened by IP Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe and PRS for Music CEO. Firstly it will provide an opportunity to showcase the work of industry, academia and government. Secondly, with an ambitious agenda, it will aim to tackle a range of issues via workshop sessions including: how can we best measure attitudes, perceptions and behaviour towards copyright; how do we better promote research findings; and how do we use this research to inform better policy making.

The Symposium will not just be a talking shop. It has a clear aim of increasing awareness and encouraging sharing and collaboration to improve the effectiveness of copyright education. It will also aim to create consensus within the community and create a foundation to continue the conversation beyond the event.

If you would like more information about the event or would like to participate, there are limited places left. Please get in touch with us at caesymposium@gmail.com before 16 May."