Exploring Copyright: History, Culture, Industry

Year of production: 2020

Image is illustrative. By Maria Lupan on Unsplash.

Have you ever thought about how a composer or a writer makes a living? This course will explore the history of creators becoming professionals. You’ll learn how copyright law developed from the idea that an artistic work is the property of its creator. You’ll discover how advances in communication, beginning with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, have enabled the growth of the creative industries. We’ll also consider why the latest digital technologies present both opportunities and challenges for today’s copyright holders.

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…

Be familiar with the concepts of copyright and authors’ rights.
Understand how copyright became a powerful tool in the marketplace for artistic works.
Learn about the legal framework for the protection of creative works.
Raise awareness of the legal protection system as an essential tool for building a fair trade market for creators.

Who is the course for?
This is an introductory course open to anyone with an interest in history and copyright. It might also be of interest to anyone in the creative and cultural industries.

Autores

International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC)

CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, is the world’s leading network of authors’ societies (also referred to as collective management organisations or CMOs). With 239 member societies in 123 countries, CISAC represents four million creators from all geographic areas and all artistic repertoires; music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts.CISAC is presided over by electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre and has four vice-presidents: Beninese creator and singer Angélique Kidjo, Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow, Chinese film director Jia Zhang-ke and Argentine film director Marcelo Piñeyro.CISAC works to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators worldwide. It enables collective management organisations to seamlessly represent creators across the globe and ensure that royalties flow to authors for the use of their works anywhere in the world. CISAC provides the highest business, legal, and IT standards to protect creators’ rights and to support the development of the international network of collective management organisations.Founded in 1926, CISAC is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation with headquarters in France and regional offices in Africa (Burkina Faso), South America (Chile), Asia-Pacific (China) and Europe (Hungary).