A new task force is set to tackle the issues arising for arts and creative businesses because of rapid developments in technology. The Creative Industries Forum on Intellectual Property will address issues such as piracy and file-sharing, and will involve ministers, industry representatives and practitioners from the world of film, music, publishing, design and computer games.
The launch of the Forum coincides with a new initiative offering free intellectual property advice to creative businesses in London. The Creative London scheme aims to provide free advice explaining how to exploit and protect creative ideas either through patents, copyright, design registration or trade marks. At the launch of the scheme, Ian Livingstone, Creative Director of video games developer Eidos said, ?People are only just waking up to the value of intellectual property ? it?s not just about what we earn today, it?s about what we can earn tomorrow. For example, Eidos owns ?Lara Croft: Tomb Raider? (pictured) and, not only do we get all the benefits from manufacturing and publishing the game worldwide, we also get merchandising and license royalties from making a movie - so Paramount actually pay us a royalty for box office receipts!?