The Second Intellectual Property Conversazione was held at St Catherine’s College, Oxford on Friday 19 March, in conjunction with the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot.  Hosted by the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre, the IP Conversazione brought together five very different speakers to discuss aspects of the broad question “Is Copyright Good for Music?” in a panel chaired by Oxford’s Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law Graeme Dinwoodie.  Lord Gill, the Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland and former Chair of Governors of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, provided valuable background on the history of the statutory development of the UK law protecting musical works. Daniel Alexander QC shared his observations on the protection of musical copyrights grounded in his extensive experience at the bar representing clients such as The Beatles in landmark intellectual property litigation. Dr Andreas Rahmatian from the University of Glasgow gave a provocative presentation criticizing the chilling effects on musical creativity arising from the recording industry’s misuse of copyright law. Having conducted an informal poll of professional musicians, representatives of labels, and lawyers, Jens Hills, a musician and solicitor to creative industries clients, brought his entertaining talk to the conclusion that copyright should be good for music, but it isn’t always as good for musicians as it ought to be. Finally, David Fischer, the Managing director of Jaman.com, co-founder and Chairman of the Xlantic Group and former CEO of MySpace Europe, provided clear and pointed analysis of existing problems in the music industry and how legal change and new business models might address such problems.

            After the panel’s presentations, all participants retired to the St Catz JCR to discuss the topic over drinks before finding their randomly-assigned tables of six in Hall. During dinner, each table discussed issues arising from the talks and formulated a question pose to one of the speakers. Between courses, Professor Dinwoodie pulled table numbers out of a hat; a student representative from that table would then ask their table’s question. The dinner conversations were lively and topical, and the subject was still being discussed the next morning at breakfast! Many thanks to all of the speakers, participants, and staff who contributed to the event.

Barbara Lauriat

Convenor of the IP Conversazione

Link(s)

Contact Ellen Moilanen
Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre
Interested in this subject? View our Intellectual Property page.

published Wednesday 31 March 2010