Supporting creative professionals and intellectual property rights

23 October 2015

The Scottish Affairs Committee holds further evidence session on its creative industries in Scotland inquiry.

Witnesses

Wednesday 28 October 2015, Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster

At 2.30pm – Panel 1: Employment and skills

Lorne Boswell, Scottish Secretary and Louise McMullan, Policy Development Officer, Equity
Dan Simmons, Head of Partnerships, and Alasdair Smith, Scotland Director, Creative Skillset

3.30pm – Panel 2: Intellectual property and copyright

John McVay, member of the Creative Coalition Campaign
Ian Moss, Vice Chair, Alliance for Intellectual Property

Purpose of the session

In the first session, they hear from representatives of Equity, a trade union that represents thousands of performers and professionals working in creative industries, and Creative Skillset, an industry body for the sector. They provide evidence on the current climate for creative professionals and how skills shortages in the creative industries in Scotland can be addressed.

The second session, investigates the importance of intellectual property (IP) rights to the creative sector and consider if any changes are needed to the current IP framework. For this session the Committee hears from the Creative Coalition Campaign and the Alliance for Intellectual Property.

Chair's comments

Pete Wishart, Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Committee said:

"This week we are hearing from representatives of the wider creative industries and the talented people who work in them. In particular, we want to find out what it is like to work in the sector and understand what government can do to help develop, attract and retain skilled workers for the creative industries.

John McVay, as well as representing the Creative Coalition Campaign, is the Chief Executive of the Producers Alliance for Cinema and TV, so we will be taking the opportunity to ask him about the evidence we received from broadcasters at last week's session in Dundee."

Further information

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