Stuart Freen is a J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and a former Artmob research assistant.
On January 13th, the York University based research project Artmob will host a demonstration of its content management software and begin a new round of beta testing. Artmob is an initiative to develop a multimedia digital archiving system designed for Canadian arts organizations and institutions. The project is jointly led by IP Osgoode member Professor Rosemary J. Coombe, Canada Research Chair in Law, Communication and Cultural Studies, York University; Professor Christopher Innes, Canada Research Chair in Performance & Culture, York University; and Professor Darren Wershler, Concordia University.
The heart of Artmob is a website backend/template that is designed from the ground up to showcase archived creative works. Arts organizations can use the open-source software to generate compelling, user-friendly websites sharing collections of video, images, audio and written word. Importantly, the interface is designed to facilitate a dialogue between creators and users with regards to copyright. By incorporating some social networking features the interface encourages rightsholders to share their work on their own terms, dictating the licence the works are shared under and more. One of the main goals of the project is to encourage Canadian rightsholders to post their works online, thereby promoting public access to our cultural heritage.
If you want to get an idea of what an Artmob site looks like, two digital archive projects have already been fully completed and can be accessed online: bpNichol.ca and the Canadian Writers in Person archive, cwip.artmob.ca.
On January 13th from 12:30pm – 2:30pm members of the Artmob project team will offer a demonstration of the early beta version of the Artmob CMS software. The demonstration will showcase features and functionality for attributing and managing rights holder data, negotiating licences for works, generating dialogue and discussion about the creation of cultural resources and for organizing and presenting cultural resources in innovative ways. The Artmob team is inviting the IP Osgoode community to provide feedback that will enhance both the functionality of the system and the intellectual property principles behind it. The demonstration will take place in Ross S103 (York University).