GLASGOW University will launch a £6.7 million centre today to study how businesses can protect their copyright in the age of the internet.
The Centre for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise & Technology (Create) is being funded with £5m from the UK government’s research councils and a further £1.7m from Glasgow University.
Martin Kretschmer, Create’s director, said: “The vast expansion of access to digital technology in recent years has created tremendous opportunities for the creative sector, which generates around £60 billion a year, or 6 per cent of the UK economy. “Studies have shown between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of young people illegally download music, movies or TV shows, but often those who download most are also the best customers. Producers are being forced to rethink their ways of doing business.”
A report in September from Musicmetric found songs by Rihanna, Rizzle Kicks and Ed Sheeran are the most popular illegal downloads in the UK.