Copyrights and Wrongs: The Impact of Copyright on the Arts and Authorship in the Digital Area

WEDNESDAY 27 OCTOBER 2010
6.30pm - 8.00pm, The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1

Panel Discussion, jointly hosted by the British Academy and London Centre for the Arts and Cultural Exchange as part of the 2010 Inside Out Festival

The controversial recent passage of the Digital Economy Bill brought issues of copyright in the digital era to the forefront of public attention. Digital media and the internet have made the sharing of texts, music and images easier than ever, and the enforcement of copyright restriction harder.

This situation has encouraged the growth of Intellectual Property (IP) law, and prompted increased industrial concentration on extending and 'policing' IP protection. It has also led to the growth of an 'open access', or 'creative commons' movement which challenges such control of knowledge and creativity.

This panel discussion focuses on these issues and in particular on the impact of copyright on the arts and authorship in the fast-changing digital era. 

Speakers:

Professor Ian Christie, FBA Department of History of Art and Screen Media, Birkbeck, University of London.
Professor Hector MacQueen, FBA, The University of Edinburgh School of Law.
William St. Clair, FBA, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Open Book Publishers and Senior Research Fellow, School of Advanced Studies, University of London
Maggie Gee, Novelist, Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature and Visiting Professor of Creative Writing, Sheffield Hallam University.

Panel Discussion

6.30-8.00pm followed by a reception. Registration is required.
To book, please visit the InsideOut Festival website