Renowned intellectual property law expert to speak on entertainment issues

Writer: Cindy H. Rice, 706/542-5172, cindyh@uga.edu Contact: André Barbic, 706/542-5141, abarbic@uga.edu Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia School of Law\u27s Dean Rusk Center will host two intellectual property law lectures in April featuring Martin Kretschmer, professor of information jurisprudence and director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management at Bournemouth University, U.K. Considered an expert in his field, Kretschmer will discuss his groundbreaking work in artist compensation in the European Union as well as the contractual structures that drive creative industries on April 6 at 1:30 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room of Dean Rusk Hall. His lecture will be followed by comments from W. Bruce Burch, UGA director of Interdisciplinary Certificate in Music Business; Bertis E. Downs IV, Georgia Law adjunct professor and general counsel for the music group R.E.M.; and John L. Turner, UGA Terry College of Business associate professor. Kretschmer\u27s research on the international franchising of television formats such as American Idol will be explored the following day (April 7) at 12:30 p.m., also in Dean Rusk Hall. This second presentation will be followed by comments from Horace Newcomb, director of the George Foster Peabody Awards; and Jennifer C. Smith, UGA Grady College assistant professor. We are excited and honored to be able to host Professor Kretschmer for two days, Rusk Center Director C. Donald Johnson said. He is an amazing resource, and I am confident that both of his talks will be very informative for anyone even remotely connected to or interested in intellectual property law or the entertainment industry. In addition to his work at Bournemouth University, Kretschmer is also co-director of a major project on copyright history at the Centre for Intellectual Property & Information Law at the University of Cambridge. He has written on many aspects of intellectual property law and the cultural industries including digital copyright, collecting societies, software, music, and the effects of intellectual property law on industry structure, competition and innovation. Both events are co-sponsored by Georgia Law’s Journal of Intellectual Property Law and its Intellectual Property Law Society. #