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CREATe have put the video from the Copyright as Frame and Prison panel discussion online.

Using the works within the exhibition as a starting point, a panel featuring artists and copyright experts will discuss how emerging technologies are shaping creative processes, how (perceptions of) copyright enable and inhibit those technologically-enabled processes and the appropriateness of appropriation.

The panel featured exhibiting artists Andrea Wallace & Ronan Deazley (Display at Your Own Risk), Duncan Poulton (Pygmalion), alongside myself, and Dr Shane Burke (lecturer in Law at Cardiff University).

May thanks to the audience for attending and for such great questions, and to CREATe for filming it.

No Copyright Infringement Intended continues at Phoenix until 21st May.

On 11th May I’ll be conducting a curator’s tour of the No Copyright Exhibition currently on at Phoenix in Leicester

Join No Copyright Infringement Intended curator Antonio Roberts for a guided tour of the exhibition, followed by a chance to ask questions about the show. The tour will be preceded by a short presentation called Ctrl + C, looking at the one-way system of cultural appropriation by corporations.

The tour is free to attend. No booking necessary.

There will be two tours on the day taking place from 13:00 - 14:00 and 18:00 - 19:00. This will be a great chance to ask questions about the works and curatorial decisions. See you there!

Issue 30 of Elephant Magazine was released in early March and, in a similar vein to issue 27, focuses on copyright:

The first copyright law, made in the eighteenth century, granted artists the exclusive right to control the copying of their original creations for 14 years. Too brief a period? Perhaps, but by the beginning of the twenty-first century, copyright’s term had grown to cover the life of the artist plus 70 years – which means that Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avigon will remain protected until 2043, 136 years after it was completed. Too long, surely?

In this issue we look at the twentieth-century phenomenon of “copyright creep” and its implications for artists working in the Digital Age.

The issue features an article from Dr Shane Burke titled Copyright as Medium. In the article he talks to several artists, including myself about copyright the use of copyright as a theme and driving force behind the creation of artworks. He pays particular attention to the “Blurred Lines” sonification piece I made the Common Property exhibition at Jerwood Space in 2016.

“The piece is effective only as long as it pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable. As the laws change I would need to change the work to reflect this. Overall for it to be effective it needs to do the opposite of what is permitted by law. It is only by doing this, and highlighting how, quite frankly, stupid these laws are that I can hope to bring about change.”

Asked how he feels about the fact that copyright law may impact directly on the form of this works, Roberts averred: “I’m happy about it but it also confuses me. I’m annoyed by the fact that a change in law can physically alter the state of an artwork (e.g. if I were ordered to censor/cover up offending parts of the work) or change how it’s perceived. At the same time, if in doing this it can help to start a discussion around copyright laws then I’m happy to be a part of it.” When asked if he considered copyright law as an artistic raw material in terms of his work, he replied: “Yes, as long as law can physically alter the appearance of an artwork then law is something tangible that can be manipulated and worked with.”

Go read the whole article on their website and buy the latest issue of Elephant Magazine for more.

On 28th April from 18:30 to 20:30 there will be panel discussion, Copyright as Frame and Prison, to coincide with the No Copyright Infringement Intended exhibition currently on at Phoenix in Leicester.

Alongside our exhibition No Copyright Infringement Intended, this discussion will highlight the disruptive power of technological innovation on culture and copyright.

Using the works within the exhibition as a starting point, a panel featuring artists and copyright experts will discuss how emerging technologies are shaping creative processes, how (perceptions of) copyright enable and inhibit those technologically-enabled processes and the appropriateness of appropriation.

The panel discussion will feature exhibiting artists Andrea Wallace & Ronan Deazley (Display at Your Own Risk), Duncan Poulton (Pygmalion), alongside myself (I curated this whole shindig), and Dr Shane Burke (lecturer in Law at Cardiff University).

This event is free. Tickets available here.

April 7th saw No Copyright Infringement Intended open its doors to the public. The exhibition, taking place from 7th April to 21st May, features work by 10 national and international artists, each exploring the relationship between copyright and culture in the digital age, investigating how the concept of ownership and authorship is evolving and coming into conflict with outdated copyright and intellectual property laws.

(photos below by Pamela Raith)

It was really encouraging to see a large number of attendees, each with lots of questions about the ways in which the works challenge copyright and how it relates to their own practice or interests. Copyright is a sometimes complex issue and so I’m glad people didn’t shy away from learning more about it :-)

My thanks go out to Chris Tyrer at Phoenix for the invite to curate this exhibition, Gino Attwood and the rest of the team at Phoenix for their help installing the works, and, of course, the artists - Nick Briz, Emilie Gervais, Nicolas Maigret, Christopher Meerdo, Jan Nikolai Nelles & Nora Al-Badri, Duncan Poulton, Fernando Sosa, Andrea Wallace & Ronan Deazley - for agreeing to be part of this exhibtion. I couldn’t be happier with it!

There will be two events during the exhibition: a panel discussion about the themes of the exhibition and a curator’s tour. More information on these will follow.

There’s plenty more photos from the opening night and installation photos available on my Flickr stream. If you take any please let me know and/or tag them with #nocopyrightintended.

There are plenty of printed programmes available (designed by the awesome Kerry Leslie) which is a work of art in itself. Message me if you want one. It’s also available online for your viewing pleasure:

The exhibition continues until 21st May at Phoenix. It will then go on to Vivid Projects in September.