Jane: We are delighted to share the updated programme from Icepops 2023 which includes links to some of the presentations and a selection of photos from the conference. We also have a review of the conference which took place from 19-21 July at the University of Glasgow. The report is written by Megan Kilvington, who is the Copyright, Licensing and Research Librarian at York St John University. As a new professional to the copyright and scholarly communications world, Megan attended Icepops 2023 conference in a very sunny Glasgow and she writes….
Icepops was my first in person conference as an information professional, and first ever focusing on copyright. I’m currently a trainee librarian and at the time of Icepops I had been in post for only 7 weeks. I had known about Icepops from the start of my post; it was recommended to me as a way of getting to know, and developing within, the copyright world. However, I didn’t really know what to expect – I’d heard from others that it’s “not like any other conferences”, that it was interactive and fun, and that I would really enjoy myself.
From my own experiences, I found that talking with others about library and copyright matters unlocked new perspectives, realizations and solutions to copyright queries and attitudes. Because of this, I was particularly excited in meeting other copyright people across national and global institutions.The aspect of Play also intrigued me; I’d played Copyright the Card Game for my own training and I knew of Copyright Dough but looking at copyright through the lens of existing games and the process of gaming was something I wanted to know more about.
The main event kicked off with a great icebreaker activity from Jess Napthine-Hodgkinson which included finding your birthday twin and a giant rock paper scissor competition where you gained the support of everyone in the room. It was then straight into the first keynote by Amy Thomas, ‘What copyright can learn from games’ ‘ which turned out – quite a lot! It was thought provoking to hear that videogames (like Super Mario!) tell you everything you need to know to play and win the game from the beginning. In a way this is applicable to thinking of copyright literacy and design through the learning and research journey – creating material that introduces key copyright aspects to audience needs before building up that knowledge as the journey develops. For me the lecture also revealed that like some game play, copyright is multiplayer. This is particularly compelling as sometimes working in copyright can feel isolating but knowing there is a community with a range of skills can help everyone thrive. This was emphasized further by the friendliness and supportive nature of all the delegates at Icepops.
After networking and a jam-packed world cafe it was time for the second keynote from Nicola Whitton: “Play: The Secret Success, Happiness and Wisdom.” It involved playdough animals, drawing my own Robot Bear and balloon dares! The lecture emphasized the importance and benefits of continued play, and the ways we can learn, build confidence and thrive through games. While both key-notes were thought provoking in different ways, both highlighted that there is human fear and insecurity of getting things wrong, and reinforced the idea that failure is a positive way to learn as it allows further experiences, development of new approaches and new ways of looking at situations. I personally found this an empowering way to look at copyright, not just as a new copyright professional but in a teaching context. Like the tweaking of game design or trying new approaches to problem solving in games, experimenting with different methods increases the copyright knowledge of others. It enables them to be confident in using and sharing the work of others as well as flourishing in their own creations.
Icepops was extremely well organized providing flavours of conference activities in the main one day event. This included the two key notes, a world cafe and lightning talks which both put spotlight on Creative Commons and Open Access, Copyright Literacy strategies to counter copyright anxiety and an amazing, highly recommended copyright escape room! (Plus lots more). I’d also attended the pre-conference the day before which was hosted by CREATe. It focused on e-lending projects in America, Australia and Europe. As a lover of literary heritage I found the Untapped project fascinating and the angle of copyright being recovered to authors. Another highlight from the pre-conference was the Salon Orchester Glasgow which had a musical programme full of pieces that had their own copyright story. It was the innovation of the conference I enjoyed overall; how copyright can be applied, considered and understood in a variety of creative mediums.
Copyright Literacy 
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