06 December 2013

IPR in Digital Culture, a perspective from University of Coimbra

Copyright in the Digital Culture - the Workshop Poster

Moments of the Workshop held in Coimbra

On the past 15 of November, the Digital Humanities & Heritage Research Group of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the Twentieth Century- CEIS20, University of Coimbra, partner in the CreativeCH, organized a local workshop on the hot topic Copyright in the Digital Culture.

The workshop focused on the legal issues involving the use and reuse of cultural and intellectual contents produced by Memory and Academic Institutions, within the reality of today’s participatory and remix culture, and the search for a better balance between public interest and right holders entitlement to recognition and economic reward.

The event brought together Cultural Heritage & Academic Institutions representatives, Cultural & Creative Industries professionals and Copyright Law specialists who discussed the issue and shared best practice examples and lessons learned. The panel of guest speakers was comprised by Alexandre Dias Pereira, specialist in Copyright Law that moderated the workshop, Teresa Nobre, an attorney-at-law and the Legal Project Lead of Creative Commons Portugal, Helena Patrício, head of the Digital Collections Projects at the National Library of Portugal and Vasco Silva, a chief editor in Babel, one of Portugal's biggest Publishers.

The main conclusion of the day was that Copyright Law needs to be revised and adjusted to the Digital Era. Although coming from different backgrounds, all the speakers agreed that Copyright Law as it is protects no one and serves no purpose, injuring creativity and innovation, moving away from the spirit of the law.

The workshop generated great interest witnessed by the full house consisting primarily of researchers (History & Mass Communication) and university students (Mass Communication & Multimedia).

Ana Rita Costa - University of Coimbra