Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CREATIVE IPR (The History of Intellectual Property Rights in the Creative Industries)
Période du rapport: 2021-03-01 au 2022-08-31
CREATIVE IPR examines the rise of intellectual property rights in the creative industries, from the international treaties of the late nineteenth century to the present day, with a focus on Europe in the global world.
CREATIVE IPR examines the consequences of this development for the creators, the firms, the institutions, and the publics. What did intellectual property rights mean to creators and authors, to publics, and to bureaucrats in twentieth century Europe and in the colonies of European countries? Who captured economic value from intellectual property, or failed to do so? In order to answer these questions, CREATIVE IPR examines from a large numbers of collections of archives, the macro and the micro aspects of the rise of intellectual property rights in the creative industries.
CREATIVE IPR pursues the questions in three arenas. The first arena is the formation and impact of national and international institutions and organizations for intellectual property. The second arena is the role of intellectual property rights in the entertainment industries (the arts of the stage, music, advertising). The third arena is the place of intellectual property in the fashion, design, and luxury industries, that rely heavily on trademarking and branding. Comparison between industries allow to reevaluate the role of intellectual property in creativity. For each arena, the researchers in the project are examining cross-cutting themes: authorship and creativity, firms and business history, technological change and innovation, legal frameworks, and the role of the commons – the public domain. These themes are particularly important in the light of the recent changes in the European legislation on intellectual property.
In recent years, intellectual property rights have, due to technological and economic change, attracted significant interest. By analyzing the practices of the creators and of the firms who negotiated the growing legal regime in the light of transnational contexts, CREATIVE IPR fills a significant knowledge gap, and re-conceptualizes the influence of intellectual property rights on the cultural industries, with a particular attention for the industries situated at the edge of art and commerce.
CREATIVE IPR examines the consequences of this development for the creators, the firms, the institutions, and the publics. What did intellectual property rights mean to creators and authors, to publics, and to bureaucrats in twentieth century Europe and in the colonies of European countries? Who captured economic value from intellectual property, or failed to do so? In order to answer these questions, CREATIVE IPR examines from a large numbers of collections of archives, the macro and the micro aspects of the rise of intellectual property rights in the creative industries.
CREATIVE IPR pursues the questions in three arenas. The first arena is the formation and impact of national and international institutions and organizations for intellectual property. The second arena is the role of intellectual property rights in the entertainment industries (the arts of the stage, music, advertising). The third arena is the place of intellectual property in the fashion, design, and luxury industries, that rely heavily on trademarking and branding. Comparison between industries allow to reevaluate the role of intellectual property in creativity. For each arena, the researchers in the project are examining cross-cutting themes: authorship and creativity, firms and business history, technological change and innovation, legal frameworks, and the role of the commons – the public domain. These themes are particularly important in the light of the recent changes in the European legislation on intellectual property.
In recent years, intellectual property rights have, due to technological and economic change, attracted significant interest. By analyzing the practices of the creators and of the firms who negotiated the growing legal regime in the light of transnational contexts, CREATIVE IPR fills a significant knowledge gap, and re-conceptualizes the influence of intellectual property rights on the cultural industries, with a particular attention for the industries situated at the edge of art and commerce.
All project members work on sources and bibliography about the history of intellectual property in the creative industries. The CREATIVE IPR digital platform hosts secondary literature and sources, which is the first objective of the project.
The internationalization of intellectual property rights in the creative industries is central to WP2. Two researchers on the project, Subhadeep Chowdhury and Dr. Marius Buning, are examining the history of BIRPI and patents (Chowdhury) and of WIPO and the EUIPO (Buning) beyond the state of the art. Chowdhury is researching the internationalization of IP through the example of Great Britain and its colonial Empire, with a focus on the politics of IP in India, with the objective of a PhD thesis. Through the case of EUIPO, Buning examines the history of the bureaucracies that fostered the internationalisation of IP systems. The PI is examining the role of legal experts for intellectual property at the international level.
Two more PhD theses are currently being developed in WP3, that focus on the history of intellectual property rights in the music industry. Anna Marie Nesheim examines the careers of French performers, with a focus on female performers, from the late 19th century to the 1960s. Her research in the archives of the SACEM, the SACD and other repositories sheds light on performing rights, and evaluates the impact of technological changes such as the advent of the radio. Minja Mitrovic examines the history of authors’ rights in the case of French colonial and postcolonial Algeria. Her research in unpublished archives, including the SACEM and UNESCO, examines the regimes of authorship and the influence of authors' rights societies.
The PI and two MSCA scholars whose projects are related to CREATIVE IPR, Dr. Vincent Dubé-Sénécal and Dr. Audrey Millet, research and publish on WP4, the history of IP in fashion, luxury in design, beyond the state of the art. The PI has published a book and co-published an anthology on the topic during the project period.
The internationalization of intellectual property rights in the creative industries is central to WP2. Two researchers on the project, Subhadeep Chowdhury and Dr. Marius Buning, are examining the history of BIRPI and patents (Chowdhury) and of WIPO and the EUIPO (Buning) beyond the state of the art. Chowdhury is researching the internationalization of IP through the example of Great Britain and its colonial Empire, with a focus on the politics of IP in India, with the objective of a PhD thesis. Through the case of EUIPO, Buning examines the history of the bureaucracies that fostered the internationalisation of IP systems. The PI is examining the role of legal experts for intellectual property at the international level.
Two more PhD theses are currently being developed in WP3, that focus on the history of intellectual property rights in the music industry. Anna Marie Nesheim examines the careers of French performers, with a focus on female performers, from the late 19th century to the 1960s. Her research in the archives of the SACEM, the SACD and other repositories sheds light on performing rights, and evaluates the impact of technological changes such as the advent of the radio. Minja Mitrovic examines the history of authors’ rights in the case of French colonial and postcolonial Algeria. Her research in unpublished archives, including the SACEM and UNESCO, examines the regimes of authorship and the influence of authors' rights societies.
The PI and two MSCA scholars whose projects are related to CREATIVE IPR, Dr. Vincent Dubé-Sénécal and Dr. Audrey Millet, research and publish on WP4, the history of IP in fashion, luxury in design, beyond the state of the art. The PI has published a book and co-published an anthology on the topic during the project period.
CREATIVE IPR does research on the history of the intellectual property in the creative industries. The method used is historical. All project members examine complementary aspects of this history through research in unpublished archives (archives of the states, of organizations, of courts, and of firms) and in printed sources. Progress beyond the state of the art has been registered in each arena of the project, allowing for new insights in the domains of the history of the institutional frameworks for the organization of intellectual property, the rights of performance, the rights of designers, and the branding of creative firms.
The CREATIVE IPR team works on comparative and connected histories of European intellectual property in a globalizing world. Comparative histories take two directions in CREATIVE IPR. The first direction is international. Research in unpublished archives contributes to the project's objective of writing the history of the internationalization of intellectual property rights. Work on the history of Congresses of the BIRPI, and on the development of international associations such as the ALAI, CISAC, and the EUIPO fill a gap in our knowledge of the internationalization of intellectual property rights. We examine which questions were at stake, which nations defended specific interpretations of the law and which definitions of authorship, and how nations cooperated on questions of intellectual property. Furthermore, the examination of the history of intellectual property systems implemented by imperial powers in their colonies allows for a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of internationalization, through three cases: Belgium and Congo (the PI), France and Algeria (Mitrovic), Great Britain and India (Chowdhury). The second direction allows for research on the history of intellectual property between various fields of creativity. Research on performing rights on the stage and on the radio (Nesheim), on fashion and music (the PI, other project members) thus allow for new advances on the history of intellectual property.
The CREATIVE IPR team works on comparative and connected histories of European intellectual property in a globalizing world. Comparative histories take two directions in CREATIVE IPR. The first direction is international. Research in unpublished archives contributes to the project's objective of writing the history of the internationalization of intellectual property rights. Work on the history of Congresses of the BIRPI, and on the development of international associations such as the ALAI, CISAC, and the EUIPO fill a gap in our knowledge of the internationalization of intellectual property rights. We examine which questions were at stake, which nations defended specific interpretations of the law and which definitions of authorship, and how nations cooperated on questions of intellectual property. Furthermore, the examination of the history of intellectual property systems implemented by imperial powers in their colonies allows for a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of internationalization, through three cases: Belgium and Congo (the PI), France and Algeria (Mitrovic), Great Britain and India (Chowdhury). The second direction allows for research on the history of intellectual property between various fields of creativity. Research on performing rights on the stage and on the radio (Nesheim), on fashion and music (the PI, other project members) thus allow for new advances on the history of intellectual property.