PACIFICSTREAM

A brief description of your organisation and its track record
Pacificstream Information C.I.C. is a social enterprise based in the Kensington area of Liverpool. The company was established in April 2005 to promote the creative and digital content industries on Merseyside, with a particular focus on technological development, and to facilitate access to a range of European and UK-based research and development projects by members of both the business and education sectors. The project team has extensive experience of creative industries business support and has coordinated a range of European funded Leonardo da Vinci projects (including a virtual incubator for the creative industries). Pacificstream is committed to regional development, supporting regeneration projects and assisting with the development of sustainable social enterprises on Merseyside.
What you would like us to fund
The creation of an online resource for creative industries entrepreneurs, featuring a range of interactive online case studies designed to educate creative industries practitioners about intellectual property (IP) rights (copyright, design right, trade marks etc). These case studies would illustrate the right and wrong ways to go about protecting and using IP (the life blood of any creative enterprise), and show the positive and negative effects that can occur depending on how entrepreneurs handle their IP, and the IP belonging to others. They will be presented in an interactive cartoon format that will not only engage the target group but will help to maintain interest in a topic that, although essential, is typically considered dry. There will be help sheets created to explain the concepts more fully and common legal templates also available, all provided through a dedicated website called Using your Creativity. The case studies are not intended to require the strategic decision-making of complex action mazes, but rather to show in graphic representations the consequences that can result from the way a company handles its IP. Information about the product will de disseminated through business support organisations, flyers and posters, and a series of seminars in community settings to both raise awareness of the importance of IP and to introduce the website.
Why you want to do this work and why your organisation is best equipped to carry it out
Creative industries self-employment is attractive to people from disadvantaged backgrounds because the barriers to entry are often low. People with a talent for design, painting, dance or music can begin to trade with very little financial investment. Many immigrants bring traditional handicraft skills that could be used as the basis for income generation, with the proper protection. However, most new entrepreneurs know little or nothing about IP laws and good practice. In order for individuals to protect their ideas and potentially move into the legal economy, a good understanding of intellectual property rights is essential. This
understanding may also help entrepreneurs to identify income streams and opportunities of which they had not previously been aware, and to ensure that entrepreneurs do not use other people’s IP illegally.
To illustrate: Due to the reduction of production costs many small companies are producing short films. When that film is finished, a television company may become interested. So what are the issues? Has the producer obtained agreements from the performers who appear in the production? Have they used background music that is subject to copyright, and will need clearance? Are they confident of the usual terms of such deals so that they benefit properly from their work and are not “ripped off”? If one or more of these issues have not been dealt with a good opportunity can suddenly become a big problem.
Even business advisers are often ignorant to the facts of IP. So, whilst IP could be considered just one of the issues involved in starting a creative enterprise, it is a greatly misunderstood and overlooked area, which needs specific and effective support. The project team has had a long-standing interest in the subject and has identified the need for change. With long-standing relationships with creative industries business support organisations (who themselves have targets for supporting groups traditionally under-represented in business) we have effective access to both the target group and stakeholder organisations who would benefit from our proposed project and would actively promote and use the product.
What difference the work you would like us to support will make to your organisation and life in the UK (either locally, regionally or nationally)
The initial impact would be the creation of IP aware practitioners, better equipped to benefit from their creativity. This will directly assist in the regeneration of poorer communities by giving people the confidence and knowledge to legally make money from their creativity. This approach could then potentially be rolled out regionally or nationally. The creation of the website and interactive cartoons are themselves examples of IP. Whilst the website in its initial format would be available free, the model could be developed by Pacificstream to teach other topics, and licensed out to other organisations, thus providing an income stream for a company currently dependent on projects for sustainability.

Additional information
This project provides an innovative yet practical approach to teaching entrepreneurs about the essential but complex issue of intellectual property, using interactive, visually appealing case studies. In this way it has the potential to develop best practice in the area of teaching IP and training new entrepreneurs. As the project as a whole initially targets new entrepreneurs, particularly from disadvantaged communities, it has the potential to assist with wealth creation where it is most needed and promote social inclusion.