BU Research Blog

A BETA version of the ‘Copyright User Portal’, funded by Bournemouth University’s Fusion Investment Fund (awarded 2012) was launched at the Law Society of England & Wales on 2 July 2013.  The main event of the day was the launch of the UK Intellectual Property Office’s Commissioned Report on Copyright and Orphan Works co-authored by academics from CIPPM, Bournemouth University and CREATe, University of Glasgow.  It also provided a platform to launch a BETA version of the Copyright User Portal.

The Copyright User Portal is an online resource aimed at making UK copyright law accessible to creators and members of the public. In particular the Portal aims to clarify UK copyright law for musicians, filmmakers, performers, writers, visual artists and interactive developers. The goal is to inform creators about how to protect their work, how to license and exploit it, and how to legally re-use the work of others.  As such, the aim of the Copyright User Portal is to provide answers to the most pressing concerns creators have about copyright.

To find the answers to the most pressing queries which creators have, the research used two specific approaches. First, the 200 most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about copyright law was analysed which was then filtered down to the most important 20 FAQs.  The second approach consisted of directly engaging with various creators, including musicians, filmmakers, performers, writers, visual artists and interactive developers and producing videos consisting of interviews with these creators, their artistic process, thoughts and questions about copyright.  These two approaches helped the research team to create a rich resource capturing the common concerns faced by media professionals in their day-to-day work.

During Summer 2013, a complete version of the Copyright User Portal will be launched.  A BETA Version of the resource can be accessed here

The Copyright User Project team consists of Mr. Bartolomeo Meletti (Lead Multimedia Producer), Dr. Kris Erickson (Principal Investigator and Executive Producer, CEMP), Dr. Dinusha Mendis (Co-Investigator and Executive Producer CIPPM), Professor Martin Krestchmer (Co-Investigator and Executive Producer CREATe, University of Glasgow) and Ms. Hayleigh Bosher (Research Assistant and Assistant Producer, CIPPM).