’Making audiovisual resources accessible undoubtedly poses a huge challenge, but also an opportunity for a new Renaissance,’said Bogusław Zdrojewski, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, in his opening address. The minister stressed that digitalisation and bringing culture online can generate unprecedented benefits in the spheres of culture, economy, and science.
The first debate was opened by a presentation by Edwin Bendyk, journalist of the weekly Polityka, titled “Culture on the electronic frontier.” The presentation focused on the role of culture in stimulating economic growth. The author also talked of the need to make cultural policy relevant to the challenges of the digital era. The second discussion dealt with the issue of online distribution and availability of audiovisual content. The theme was introduced by professor Raquel Xalabarder-Plantada, who spoke about “Copyright in the digital era.” In her presentation, she outlined the issues connected with the relationship between digitalisation and copyright, with a special focus on audiovisual heritage. Elisabeth Niggenmann from Comité des Sages talked about the report New Renaissance published in January 2011.The report puts together key conclusions and recommendations concerning digitalisation. Some of them took the form of a legislative initiative of the European Commission, e.g. the draft directive on orphan works. Here to read more.
