InternetLab, Fundación Karisma, Open Future, and the Ford Foundation would like to invite you to a  workshop session on copyright and the digital economy held on October 28 and 29 as part of the 2021 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest’s  #IPWEEK2021.

In line with the Global Congress mandate of bridging research and advocacy, the workshop will provide participants with a forum to present materials for feedback and discussion, in a structured, dynamic format, with opportunities for publication in two different tracks. 

THEME

Understanding copyright research and advocacy in 2021 requires navigating through a complex ecosystem of platforms, apps, monetization systems, terms of service, and community guidelines, against a background of shifting trends in media consumption habits, the decisive move from ownership to licensing of cultural goods, the blurring of the lines differentiating authors, users, and intermediaries, and the proliferation of closed access distribution services — to mention just a few of the elements that are shaping the constantly evolving media landscape.

While we may agree on the fundamental principles of a public interest approach to copyright law, the speed with which change occurs can be overwhelming, and taking stock of where we currently stand and where we might be heading can be a useful exercise for a strategic and integrative view of our field.

With that in mind, we are looking for written contributions related to the role of copyright in the current digital economy of cultural and intellectual goods for presentation and discussion during this year’s Global Congress IP Week.

 Topics include, but are not limited to:

  •  user-generated content and limitations and exceptions to copyright;
  •  automated enforcement of copyright law;
  •  the relationship between copyright and other platform governance/regulation issues, such as content moderation, privacy, monetization, freedom of expression, etc.;
  • new models of intermediation in content distribution;
  • the status and role of online piracy in an age of ubiquitous streaming and closed platforms.
  • conceptualization/framing strategies on intellectual property as tools for open access/free culture advocacy.

 SUBMISSIONS

We are looking for submissions of:

  • Research papers in varying stages of completion. Empirical and theoretical works are both welcome;
  • Analysis and discussion of current, impending, or proposed policy/legislation,
  • Essays and articles that do not fit into the categories above, but are thematically in line with the workshop’s subject matter.

If you doubt whether your submission classifies or not, please send us a message: gc.workshop@internetlab.org.br.

Submissions can be draft papers, extended abstracts, or detailed proposals of the final submissions and must be in English. Final submissions will be due January 31 for potential publication and may be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese (see below).

Please send your submission to gc.workshop@internetlab.org.br before October 20, 2021, attached to a message with the subject line “[SUBMISSION IPWEEK].”

 WORKSHOP FORMAT AND GUIDING QUESTIONS

The workshop will be structured as a series of lightning rounds, with each participant assigned a contribution written by another participant, then tasked with briefly presenting and commenting on the text, and held in English.

Participants will also be encouraged to think of their work and the work of their colleagues with a set of guiding questions in mind, which will be used as a throughline for a focused conversation on the current status of copyright research and advocacy, and how the Global Congress community can better cooperate moving forward:

  • What will the landscape for copyright law look like in the next five years? What challenges and research questions we might have to deal with in the near future?;
  • How can we better integrate our research/advocacy with that of other fields and communities? What are the potentials for cross-pollination and cooperation?
  • Where to situate terms such as “free culture”, “openness”, “access to knowledge”, “user rights”, in the current media ecosystem?;
  •  What are the potential blindspots we may have with regards to our proposals for copyright reform, taking into consideration the changes that occured in the past few years in media production, distribution, and consumption?

The workshop organizers will summarize the presentations and conversations that emerge in the session in a document published later this year, with the goal of sparking conversation on a research and advocacy agenda.

PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES

Participants are encouraged to submit their finalized works for publication in  two different tracks:

  • Internet & Society, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by InternetLab, will host a special issue on “Copyright and the Digital Economy”, to be published during the first semester of 2022. Articles will be published in Portuguese/Spanish and English (https://revista.internetlab.org.br/). 
  • New Ideas on Media, Culture and Copyright, a serialized publication edited by InternetLab as a Global Congress output, will provide an open publication platform, unconstrained by the formal requirements of academic publishing, with the goal of stimulating the exchange of ideas in a format conducive to experimentation and out-of-the-box thinking. Articles will be published in English and Spanish/Portuguese.

Submission guidelines for both publications will circulate shortly after the workshop. The deadline for the final submissions, after the workshop debates, will be January 31, 2022.

We hope to see you soon at the Global Congress #IPWEEK2021!