[Air-L] 3rd CopySouth Workshop, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 2010

[Nanci Oddone]

Sorry for cross-posting.

*Third CopySouth Workshop*

*International Conference on Copyright Issues*

http://copysouth.org/portal/rio ● copysouth.rio2010 at gmail.com



The CopySouth Research Group (CSRG) invites you to attend and join in the
debates at its three day
international conference on copyright to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
at the end of June.

 It is an important moment to discuss these issues. Around the world, the
antiquated assumptions of copyright law
and ideology are again being questioned and new conflicts are breaking out.
In Brazil, for example, more than 500 musicians,
writers, academics and others signed an open letter in late May calling on
their government to reform its copyright laws so that users can have more
access to music and books. Meanwhile, the well-financed campaign against
so-called copyright “piracy”
has become even more vocal and threatens us all, except large corporations.
Although three of the most important countries
in the global South – China, India and Brazil – were not even invited to the
talks, a new anti-piracy treaty called ACTA
is about to be signed by rich nations in North America and Europe, as well
as Japan and a few smaller countries.

As we meet, a list of long-standing and complex questions is demanding new
answers. Do most musicians benefit from the copyright system and the current
way that the music industry is organised? How can we promote far more access
to educational materials in the countries of South America, Africa and Asia
than already exists? And, speaking of access and sharing, why do so many
ideas and so many cultural products flow from the North to the South and so
few flows the other way? Can we justify the current economic logic of the
global copyright system? And what are viable alternatives to the current
system?

To address these questions and many more that you may want to raise, the
CSRG has assembled a group of
leading critical researchers, musicians and activists from around the world
to come to Rio and to speak on
seven panels. The speakers are from Brazil (7), Chile (1), Bolivia (1), Cuba
(2), the United States (3),
South Africa (2), Ghana (1), the Philippines (2), Switzerland (1), and the
United Kingdom (2).
We expect some strong opinions to be voiced and some good open debates to
occur. So we extend an
open invitation to all people interested in these issues, such as students,
librarians, teachers,
researchers, musicians and information activists, to attend.

There will be simultaneous interpretation in Portuguese, Spanish and
English.

Hope to see you in Rio on 28 June.

*The CopySouth Research Group, May 2010*

*http://copysouth.org/portal/rio ● copysouth.rio2010 at gmail.com*