27 May 2025
2025 CILIP Copyright Conference Reflections
By Naomi Korn, CEO
I was honoured to be chairing the CILIP Copyright Conference for another year. Joined by over 100 delegates, we had an extremely enjoyable and enriched day of sessions exploring AI and how copyright law deals with these fast paced developments; how library and information professionals navigate an already complex copyright and licensing ecosystem across national and international spaces as well as the latest developments in licensing schemes and UK Government copyright policy. Welcoming back seasoned Copyright Conference participants as well as first timers and a strong international contingent conference programme highlights included:
🤖 Keynote | Artificial inventors and authors.
Professor Ryan Abbott, Professor of Law and Health Sciences, University of Surrey School of Law
✈️ Never a blank slate: culturally-informed copyright services for international library users
Caitlin Mannion, Head of Reference and Instruction Services, NYU Shanghai
📋 The latest developments in the UK government’s copyright policy
Margaret Haig, Head of Copyright Delivery, Intellectual Property Office
💻 CLA licensing & technology updates
Catherine Stephen, Head of Renewals & Growth, Education & Public Sector, Copyright Licensing Agency
🧪 The impact of copyright on teaching and research in UK Higher Education
Cristina Rusu, Copyright and Licensing Manager, Loughborough University
👾 Lightning Talk | Predatory AI and its prey: Copyright, IP and DP
Agnes Kozlowska, Head of Knowledge and Information Management, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
📚 Lightning Talk | Providing Copyright Advice on AI in a multifaceted organisation
Debbie McDonnell, Intellectual Property Manager | Digital & Technology, British Council
📔 Lightning Talk | Orphan works: Love them or hate them, we’ve got to manage them – some pragmatic next steps
Naomi Korn, CEO, Naomi Korn Associates
🧰 Lightning Talk | The Copyright Toolkit: A scenarios-based approach to providing copyright guidance
Diane Crawford-Leighton, Copyright Librarian, University of Exeter
The conference concluded with Panel Discussion / The future of copyright. Our panellists agreed that whilst the future is likely to be disruptive in terms of the interface between copyright law and AI, opportunities for collaboration will help navigate potential challenges leading to greater opportunities.
It was a fantastic conference and provided a comprehensive overview of Policy developments in copyright, licensing updates, informed discussion, practical steps to manage copyright and an opportunity through the day for questions and engagement by participants.
A massive thanks to our expert speaker panel and particularly Professor Ryan Abbott who dialled in from the US, our conference delegates who remained engaged and infuse through throughout the day and of course CILIP, our conference partners.