[ecrea] Call for paper FilmForum 2013 -– XX Udine International Film Studies Conference

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XX Udine International Film Studies Conference
Udine, March 12-14

Who’s What? - Intellectual Property in the Digital Era

The recent transformations in media landscape, determined by the
digital revolution and the birth of Web 2.0, have brought the issue of
intellectual property to the attention of jurists, consumers and, in a
much wider sense, stakeholders.
Due to the unprecedented proliferation of media platforms, the
circulation of audio-visual products has become increasingly difficult
to control, consequently undermining the usual strategies of copyright
protection and ownership preservation. Besides, as a matter of fact,
the emergence of a new digital “sharing culture” – sustained by
peer-to-peer communities, social networks and the contemporary “gift
economy” – has determined a radical change in the general perception
of intellectual property itself. Within this networked society, the
nature of intellectual property has become more and more ambiguous,
paving the way to the rise of renewed forms of users creativity,
partially grounded on the grassroots re-appropriation and
re-distribution of pre-existing (licensed) materials (as in the case
of the so-called fan fiction, for instance). As a consequence, the
question of intellectual property in the digital era is at the very
centre of the public debate and has also begun to draw the attention
of scholars and researchers. Nevertheless, film and media studies are
not new to the investigation of such an issue which, on the contrary,
has been extensively discussed during the history of cinema and moving
images technologies.

Mindful of these assumptions – and in line with its traditional
interest in the interplay between early cinema practices and
contemporary developments –, the XX Udine International Film Studies
Conference would like to suggest the following research perspectives:

•	The original and the copy. The digital “existence” of audio-visual
products has brought into question this (already problematic)
opposition. The consequences of this new situation, in fact, involve
both the practices of production and the distributive ones. In this
sense, piracy appears to be related more to this drastic change in the
status of the “oeuvre” than to disobedience (either individual or
organized).

•	Copyright. Are the traditional forms of copyright protection
appropriate for the new digital environment in which audio-visual
products circulate? Or are they just remnants of out-dated social and
legal practices? A historical overview of the copyright institution
can help us to understand its basis and reasons, without taking for
granted its existence as a sort of “natural right”.

•	Plagiarism and imitation. In which ways film narratives and styles
have been preserved from plagiarism and imitation during film history
and within different national contexts? From American Biograph
trademark engraved on D.W. Griffith’s movies scenography to the
Hollywood studios’ legal departments, what kind of legal instruments
and productive practices have been used for the purpose?

•	Author and authors. Which professional roles have been acknowledged
for their creative contribution, in which historical and geographical
contexts, and in which proportion? From the role of screenwriters
during the 1910s to the property rights of stills photographers,
creative contribution has not been uniformly valued in film industry
during its history.

•	Referent and image. The body and the work of actors are regulated by
several legal constraints, which are informed by different conceptions
of the subject/industry relationship. From the Hollywood studio system
model, which alienates the actor from his or her  own image, to the
complex issues raised by the contemporary motion capture technology,
the relations between individuals and their bodily appearance needs to
be properly investigated.

•	Property and the archive. Film archives traditionally have
complicated relations with the copyright owners of the images they
preserve. These relations are connected to different conceptions of
the social function and of the artistic value pertaining to  the
moving images intellectual property. A comparative survey of legal
frameworks and of film preservation policies allows us to understand
the features and the historical development of the different film
cultures.

The organizers invite single proposals (length not exceeding 20').
Deadline for paper proposals: November 1, 2012
Proposals should not exceed one page in length. Please make sure to
attach a short CV (10 line max).
Submit proposals to:(udineconference /at/ gmail.com)
Further information at:http://www.filmforumfestival.it

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