Becoming a copyright �deity specialist

Six Q & As

with Irene Barranco Garcia (Imperial College London) and Christina Daouti (University College London)

AI-generated image, Microsoft Copilot, 24 April 2025

Q1. Who are we, and how did we get here?

Irene

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Christina

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RyanMinkoff, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image by [Sam Teigen]

( https://flic.kr/p/4WiJs6 ~ [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ )

Q2. Being a copyright specialist: �what do we do day to day?

IsabellaMont, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Q2 (continued). What do we do day to day? We are:

Image by macrovector on Freepik

Policy, compliance, licences and permissions.

Jealously protecting authors’ rights

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Help others navigate copyright’s choppy waters

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Communicate the rights messages to different audiences.

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Develop copyright wisdom (literacy).

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Make it playful (minus the wine)

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Make it critical and open to debate (fighting battles if necessary)

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Sow the seeds of copyright literacy communities and watch them grow.

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Forge relationships within and beyond our institutions.

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Support the arts and cultural heritage.

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Hunt for new knowledge (professional development).

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Use copyright to support the beauty of open science.

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Q2 (continued). What do we do day to day?

• Zeus (strategy, policy, compliance, rules/licences)

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• Hera: jealously protecting our researchers’ IP rights

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• Poseidon: helping others navigate the choppy waters of copyright

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• Hermes: communicating key messages to the key people

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• Athena: copyright wisdom (aka copyright literacy)

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• Dionysus: playful copyright education (but without the wine)

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• Demeter: sowing the seeds of copyright knowledge (community)

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• Ares: critical copyright approaches, debates, battles

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• Hephaestus: craft relationships

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• Apollo: copyright in the arts and special collections

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• Artemis: hunting resources and networks for personal development

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• Aphrodite: copyright supporting the beauty of open science.

Image by macrovector on Freepik

Q3. Is a copyright librarian different from being a subject librarian?

�KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Q4. What areas are we responsible for?

Irene top 3

• PGR support
• Copyright and open access
• AI

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Image by jcomp on Freepik.

Christina top 3

• PGR support
• Publishing open access
• Copyright literacy community

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Q4. What (other) areas are we responsible for?

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• Licences.
• Copyright for research, including theses, publications, open access and open science, TDM, licensing and sharing research data.
• Teaching support.
• Archives and special collections support.
• Support to leadership teams about policies/developments.
• AI.
• Professional services/ social media/websites.

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Q5. What skills come handy when you are a copyright specialist?

It is both skills and behaviours.

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• Communication skills, including writing for various audiences.
• Interpersonal skills – approachable, reassuring but not patronising.
• Teaching experience/skills.
• Curiosity, willingness to explore new areas, enthusiasm.
• Confidence, thriving in uncertainty.
• Patience, not being reactive, thinking it through.
• Creativity, playfulness.
• Listening, learning from others.
• Openness. Giving a range of options based on judgement, without being prescriptive. Empowering others to make decisions.

Q6. And finally, what’s the biggest perk of the role?

Irene

• Autonomy.
• Constant learning, opportunity to influence.
• Collaborate with so many different people within and outside.

Christine

• The Aha! moment

Experiencing people understanding something that they didn’t before, and put it to practice.

• Equally, understanding a new area myself, and putting this into practice.

Bonus question. How important is it to work with others?

Key partners

• Other librarians
• Legal team
• IP team
• Academics (for joint projects and co-delivery of teaching)
• E-learning designers
• Students (for feedback and co-creation)
• Copyright Community

They all work with copyright and will have valuable perspectives.

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