In the context of the latest EU copyright reform, a coalition representing 500.000 performers across Europe launched the Fair Internet for Performers Campaign to secure royalty payments on streaming. This Leverhulme-funded study carried out at the University of Cambridge examined i) the political reform process; ii) the effectiveness of the campaign; and iii) whether relative bargaining power predetermined success. The full peer-reviewed article resulting from this case study can be found here.
Read MoreBringing policy-makers in productive collaboration with academic researchers is one of The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s key priorities. With funding from the AHRC, I lectured on this course designed in collaboration with policy consultancy RAND Europe that introduced PhD students to public policy engagement and provided them with the unique opportunity to present their policy proposals to a distinguished panel of decision-makers.
Read MoreThe government is increasingly steering universities to demonstrate the impact of their research projects through the so-called ‘impact agenda’. Scholars are therefore expected to engage with industry and government to find out what the key issues might be and help to address them through research. I offered this course in collaboration with Professor of Intellectual Property Lionel Bently to provide a platform for scholars to engage critically with the impact agenda by entering in direct conversation with some of the music industry’s most influential stakeholders.
Read MoreConsidering the complexities inherent in copyright and neighbouring rights in the music industry, commentators have asked whether the legal distinctions between composers and performers are justified. Drawing on interviews with classical and pop musicians and relevant case law, I found that the legal categories of joint or individual authorship, adaptation and performance protect most contributions to a musical work and align with social understandings of the different types of contributions. The resulting peer-reviewed article is available here.
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