10/11/15 – CGCS, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

The presentation given summarised the project, and then asked about the extent to which one could learn useful lessons from history about the contemporary debate about copyright and the news business. Does a historical analysis adds much to the economic, sociological, legal and technological evaluation of the propriety of copyright interventions?

The presentation was useful to raise the profile of the project. The Q&A that followed was a general discussion about the extent to which copyright law fetters free flowing information on the web. There was a strong copyright minimalist view expressed, sceptical about the benefits of extending copyright related laws. There was something of consensus in the room that the way that history contributes to the evaluation of the propriety of copyright interventions is complex and frequently over-simplified.