Image and Trust; publishing - and IP?

I was delighted to participate in the VARIE (Visual Arts Research Institute of Edinburgh) seminar series "Image and Trust". This is a most amazing interdisciplinary venture - speakers last time were a mathematician on forms of teaching logic, and an artist. My topic was "Creativity and reputation - law's inadequacies?" - on the basis that this was as close as law got to Image and Trust. It was a fascinating opportunity to explore the usual suspects - individual and economic focus, problems of getting clearance, the extent of any right to privacy - and (to me) more unusual questions such as the impact of law on cultural studies projects, and the links between what is a substantial reproduction, likelihood of confusion, and evolving perceptions. Human rights, legal and theoretical, were a common theme, and the impact of competition law as a fetter to abuses of power also touched upon.

Similar themes came out at my (becoming annual) seminar at the Centre of Publishing Studies at Stirling University, to MSc and MLitt students, ably organised by Andrew Wheatcroft. A focus on the basics of copyright, and how publishers should, from their perspective, secure everything they can, moved quickly to the impact of this on creativity and the societal messages it sent, and the need, both ethical and financial, for fair business deals.

Both events a healthy reminder that IP is only part of a broader framework - and for most exists around the edges .