Monday miscellany

Letting the Kat out the bag!

Welcome to Monday Miscellany - here you will find a mixed bag of reports, call for papers, events and job vacancies, enjoy!

IP is a barrier to the growth of creative industry freelancers, says Creative Industries Federation Report

According to Creative Industries Federation 47% of the creative industry workers are freelance. However, they suggest that there is a lack of understanding by policy makers about freelancers. In a survey of around 700 creative freelancers and 50 businesses, their Report found that legal advice and support (particularly on intellectual property) emerged as major barrier to business growth: “it is clear that many struggle to access good quality affordable advice on issues such as protecting their intellectual property rights.” [p.44] Policy recommendations from the report therefore suggest that the Government should support an independent UK-wide virtual hub - a ‘business booster network’ - which signposts existing business advice, maps local support services, and facilitates peer-to-peer mentoring aimed at creative enterprises and entrepreneurs. [p.46] See the full report here.

Call for papers:

The Singapore Management University will host the 3rd Works-In-Progress Conference: “IP Scholars Asia” on the 1st and 2nd March 2018 in Singapore. Scholars with an interest in comparative law (not only Asian law strictly, but also US, EU, and other countries) are invited to apply. The Call for Papers for full details here.

Events:

The 12th Edition of the Pan-European IP Summit will be held in Brussels on 7th and 8th of December 2017. The event hosts over 100 speakers on topics relating to patent, copyright, trademark, design and new technologies. More information can be found here: http://www.ipsummit.info/

Trademark enthusiasts may be interested in heading to New Orleans for the INTA Trademark Administrators and Practitioners Meeting (TMAP), which will take place from September 17th -19th . Featuring close to 30 speakers, attendees will experience three days of learning, networking and empowerment. For the first time, TMAP attendees and INTA staff will begin the meeting by building bicycles with a local non-profit for New Orleans teens in need. Early bird registration ends on Friday, August 4. To register, visit www.inta.org/2017TMAP.

Looking for something new? Here are some recent IP vacancies:

Motion Picture Association (MPA) EMEA is looking for a new Policy/Advocacy Intern in Brussels, Belgium. The internship is full-time for 6 months, to work closely with the MPA EMEA Policy Department, supporting the team in implementing the EMEA Policy Strategy. Full details here, hurry the deadline for applications is today, 31 July 2017!

Julia Reda is looking for a communications trainee to assist with spreading the word on Julia’s work and its underlying issues, and making it easy to understand, follow and participate in. Full details here, deadline 18th August 2017.

Google Policy Fellowship in Europe and Africa for undergraduate, graduate or law students interested in Internet and technology policy. The fellowship offers an opportunity to spend the summer contributing to the public dialogue on these issues, and exploring future academic and professional interests. More info here, apply here before 11th August 2017.

IP Junior Project Manager for the pan-European Intellectual Property Summit 2017, Brussels, Belgium. The position is for 6-12 months and involves the set-up of the IP Summit which will take place on 7-8 December. Full details here and here.

Think Tank Kennisland (KL) is offering a copyright internship in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from 1st October for four – six months. Full details here (the website is in Dutch but the language of the project work is English). Deadline to apply is 25th August 2017.

photo: Andrea Kirkby