Intellectual Property and Informed Consent: Partnerships and Participation
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Arts and Cultures
Abstract
The project scoped out the issues relating to intellectual property, copyright and informed consent. The team drew together insights generated by projects funded under the AHRC Museums and Galleries Research Programme, soliciting contributions by experts in the areas of IP law, research ethics, museum accessioning, participative research and working with vulnerable adults. The project conducted a critical exploration of existing thinking and practice relating to intellectual property, research ethics, informed consent and ethics of participation and museum approaches to consent and copyright. They undertook a critical literature review and gathered contributions through interviews from various key actions such as IP experts, museum senior managers, chairs of research ethic committees, practitioners working with the Mental Capacity Act, and researchers using participatory action research. The outputs of the project include: a co-authored peer review journal article, a booklet for projects approaching similar issues (printed and available as a downloadable PDF) aimed at academics and practitioners and a workshop to share and discuss findings aimed at academics and practitioners.
Organisations
Publications
Helen Graham (Author)
The personal is still political: Museums, Participation and Copyright
| Description | The 'Partnership and Participation: Intellectual Property and Informed Consent' project (2011-2012) worked with museum staff and people involved in participation projects in museums to explore questions of ownership and consent. Key findings from the project: • Scale and timescale: Questions of copyright and consent become urgent when the outcomes of participation projects move beyond their specific context and are made widely available or are to be kept by the museum for future use. • Personal stories: There has been a shift in the kind of knowledge produced through working with individuals and groups. This has shifted from the factual to the personal and as a result participants expect to have a more personal relationship with the museum. • Museums' political legitimacy: Approaches taken to copyright are often explicitly linked to the way staff think about museums' political legitimacy. One point of view is that the museum must balance individuals' interests and a broader 'public interest'. In this view setting out transparent copyright and consent agreements at the outset of a project was seen as reasonable. In another point of view, a 'bottom up' approach placed the emphasis on how you treat people. Here copyright and consent were seen as negotiated, with agreements being drawn up together. • Courtesy: Participants used the word 'courtesy' to evoke the kind of relationship they expect with museums - suggesting the importance of questions of ownership and consent being seen not simply in terms of a legal contract but as a social contract as well. |
| Exploitation Route | We have been asked to deliver workshops (in the UK and in Europe) to practitioners which aim to enable those working in museums and heritage contexts to explore questions of ownership, copyright and informed consent. The impact of the project has been to raise understandings of the technical and legal aspects of copyright as a way to support self-reflective and ethical practice in museum participation projects. |
| Sectors | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://partnershipandparticipation.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | We have been asked to deliver workshops (in the UK and in Europe) to practitioners which aim to enable those working in museums and heritage contexts to explore questions of ownership, copyright and informed consent. The impact of the project has been to raise understandings of the technical and legal aspects of copyright as a way to support self-reflective and ethical practice in museum participation projects. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Tackling Ethical Issues in Community-Based Reseach |
| Amount | £30,755 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/J006645/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2012 |
| End | 09/2013 |
| Description | Tackling Ethical Issues in Community-Based Reseach |
| Amount | £30,755 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/J006645/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2012 |
| End | 09/2013 |