Explore media piracy and policy with international industry experts

International media experts, entrepreneurs, film makers and activists will explore media piracy as a political and social act at a Queen Mary University of London symposium on Tuesday 17 June. The event forms part of the AHRC Network project Bazaar Cinema, conducted in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai - In an era where more than 2.3 billion files are downloaded across peer-to-peer networks every month, the event - which is free and open to students, staff and the public - takes a fresh look at 'cultures of copying' in the creative industries and academia. Media creators, digital activists, hackers, researchers and 'everyday tinkerers' will discuss the moralism of copyright and the move toward a vibrant and participatory digital commons. Subjects up for discussion include open source, intellectual property policy, peer to peer sharing, hacking, and everyday consumption and media habits. The day's talks include: Alexandra Kapka (University of Ulster) on how the censorship and digital piracy of the controversial A Serbian Film (2010) affected interpretations of Serbian national identity in the UK, and Virginia Crisp (Middlesex University) on perceptions of ownership within file sharing communities. Alongside keynote presentations from lawyer and campaigner Lawrence Liang and Dr Anne Barron from the London School of Economics will be a host of international speakers, a roundtable discussion of industry expert practitioners and a screening of Naata (The Bond) followed by a Q&A with directors Dr Anjali Monteiro and Dr K.P. Jayasankar from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.