A photograph from one of the events organised by the Modern Poland Foundation, source: www.nowoczesnapolska.org.pl
The CopyCamp conference brings together international experts in copyright legislation, as well as social activists and those practically engaged in what can be named one of THE ideological debates of the 21st century
The second edition of the CopyCamp Conference is part of the Future of the Copyright project conducted by the Modern Poland Foundation. It is also the first large-scale meeting in Poland devoted to the issues of copyright in both ideological and practical terms.
The key issue placed under scrutiny throughout the event is the role played by copyright laws in building the contemporary creative society of today. New technologies and global communication form a natural environment for this community, and this year’s edition of the event will concentrate on practical solutions for the creative sector. The discussions and presentations are also meant to present an analysis of Polish copyright laws in the light of international legislation, and delve into the language of public debate. The issue of copyrights and intellectual property will be examined from different perspectives, with anthropologists, sociologist and economists all taking part in the debate.
The special guest and keynote speaker of CopyCamp 2013 is Eben Moglen, a professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and an expert in the field of free software implementation. Moglen is the co-author of the GNU General Public License, the most widely used free software license, which guarantees users the freedoms to use, study, share (copy), and modify the software.
The Modern Poland Foundation, one of the co-organisers of the event has decided to engage a wide variety of individuals in the CopyCamp conference. There will be artists and authors of various creative projects, social activists, lawyers, scientists, politicians, students, and journalists - groups that often present contrasting stances towards the issue of copyrights and access to common cultural goods. CopyCamp has the ambition of instigating fruitful and effective communication between these groups.
The formula of the event comprises a series of short, 10-minute long expert-presentations. The talks will be held in two auditoriums of the Muranów movie theatre in Warsaw, with the main section running simultaneously to the smaller “Hyde Park” formula. The Hyde Park section is open for all persons wanting to take part, upon an earlier application and submission of their talk.
Some 40 people are expected to give talks at CopyCamp. Among the participants are Professor Barbara Fatyga of the Warsaw University, Jérémie Zimmermann from the French association La Quadrature Du Net, EU Parliament deputy Paweł Zaleski, journalist Wojciech Orliński from the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Magdalena Bigaj from the Kinoplex portal, and Jarosław Lipszyc, the president of the Modern Poland foundation.
CopyCamp talks are scheduled to take place on the 1st of October, from 2 pm until 9.30 pm, with a cocktail at the end of the day.
The conference is co-organized by the Coalition for Open Education. The partners of the second edition of the event include: the Association of Authors ZAiKS, Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe and Google. For regular updates and more information about the event’s programme, see the official copycamp.pl website, as well as the prawokultury.pl page. Photographs and video recordings from the conference, as well as a live streaming channel will be accesible at this address.
Paulina Schlosser, source: press release, 19.08.2013