The CopySouth Research Group was established in December 2004. It is a loosely-affiliated group of researchers based in a number of countries across the South and the North who seek to research the inner workings of the global copyright system and its largely negative effects on the global South.
The entire group first met together in August 2005 at the University of Kent in Canterbury, United Kingdom for a 'by invitation only' workshop. Its first publication is the Copy/South Dossier. (For more on who contributed to the Dossier, how it was prepared, and its purpose, read 'Some Initial Words' on pages 3-5 of the Dossier. )
In 2008, the group met again for a workshop in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Future projects and possible future publications are under discussion with the group.
If you wish to contact the group, visit http://copysouth.org/portal/contact.
The group also has an e-mail list. If you would like to subscribe, go to http://copysouth.org/portal/list
Members of CopySouth are:
SUNIL ABRAHAM (sunil@mahiti.org) Director, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. He is a free software advocate and an IP activist. His current interest is in piracy and access to knowledge.
RUSTOM BHARUCHA (rustombh@yahoo.com); An independent writer, theatre director and cultural critic based in Calcutta, India. He is the author of several books on interculturalism, secularism, and globalization.
CAROLINA BOTERO (carobotero@gmail.com); A Colombian from Bogota, a lawyer and doctoral student, her area of interest is the Creative Commons.
RAFAEL CARRENO (rcarrenoforos@yahoo.es) is a copyright and information activist based in Caracas, Venezuela. He was responsible for the production of the Spanish edition of the Copy South Dossier in April 2008.
TATIANA CARSEN (tcarsen@mareaurbana.com.ar). Librarian, researcher, poet, and activist, interested in the negative effects of copyright in libraries, and how the system manipulates and steals author's rights.
JUAN CARLOS CORDERO NINA (sikus_bolivia@yahoo.com); A professional musician and music teacher, he worked for the Bolivian society of composers. He is organising an independent group to study IP issues.
COLIN DARCH (colin.darch@gmail.com); Senior Information Specialist in the African Studies Library, University of Cape Town. He is interested in the political economy of intellectual property systems; working on a book on freedom of information.
EVE GRAY (Eve.Gray@uct.ac.za); She has worked as an academic and as a publisher in Europe and in South Africa; she runs a consultancy. Her interests include research policy in South Africa.
TERESA HACKETT (teresa.hackett@eifl.net), Dublin,Ireland; Librarian with a legal background, currently Programme Manager "Advocacy for Access to Knowledge: copyright and libraries" http://www.eifl.net/cps/sections/services/eifl-ip
DEBORA HALBERT (halbert@hawaii.edu), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Halbert has worked on copyright issues for more than a decade and is the author of "Resisting Intellectual Property" and "Intellectual Property in the Information Age."
MUNIR HASAN (munir.hasan@bdosn.org ) is working with the Government of Bangladesh on a project focused on access to information. He is part of the Bangladesh Open Source Network and active in promoting alternatives to IPR in Bangladesh.
PRASHANT IYENGAR (prashantiyengar@gmail.com) works with the Alternative Law forum as a researcher. He has been working on issues related to copyright and open access as well as working as a media activist.
SHISHIR KUMAR JHA (skjha@iitb.ac.in), Mumbai, India; Associate Professsor at the School of Management, IIT Bombay. He is interested in issues related to international business, copyright and the digital economy.
FATIMA LASAY (fats@korakora.org) is an artist, activist and scholar working on issues related to culture and the arts in the Philippines. Her current work is on creativity outside the IP framework.
LAWRENCE LIANG(lawrence@altlawforum.org ) is a researcher and writer with the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, India. He works on the social benefits of piracy in South Asia.
ARUN M. (arun@space-kerala.org)is a free software activist in Trivandrum, India. He is the coordinator of SPACE-Kerala initiative that promotes free software and the adoption of ICT for social development.
ZAPOPAN MARTIN MUELA MESA (zapopanmuela@gmail.com ) teaches library and information science at the Universidad Autononoma de Nueva Leon in Monterey, Mexico. He is active in radical librarian circles in Latin America.
LILLIAN ALVAREZ NAVARRETE (aep@cubarte.cult.cu); A copyright lecturer, she has written a book: "Derecho de Fautor? El debate de hoy" (Havana, 2006).
DENISE ROSEMARY NICHOLSON ( Denise.Nicholson@wits.ac.za), South Africa. Copyright Services Librarian at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Involved in international and regional copyright committees/projects addressing access to knowledge issues.
NANCI ODDONE (neoddone@gmail.com); Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Professor at the Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil. PhD in Information Science. Experience in documentation, libraries, publishing and copyediting.
LUIS OPORTO ORDOÑEZ (luis.oporto@vicepresidencia.gob.bo) . He is the director of the library and archive of the Bolivian Congress, and a university professor. He organised the first public meeting on copyright in Bolivia.
G. NARASIMHA RAGHAVAN (gnr@vsnl.net). He is a doctoral candidate in economics in Coimbatore, India. He works on IP and traditional knowledge, especially access and benefit-sharing arrangements.
ALEJANDRO CABALLERO RIVERO (alejandro@academiaciencias.cu); Specialist in Science and Technology at the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, active in promoting access to scientific digital resources for underdeveloped countries.
JOOST SMIERS (joost.smiers@planet.nl) Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Professor (em.) of Political Science. His books include "Arts under Pressure" a book on Unesco's Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (with Nina Obuljen); and with Marieke van Schijndel: "Imagine! No Copyright. Better for Artists, Diversity and the Economy."
ALAN STORY (a.c.story@kent.ac.uk); Whitstable, Kent, United Kingdom; Senior lecturer in intellectual property law, Kent Law School; Chairperson of the Copy South Research Group. Publications at: http://kar.kent.ac.uk/view/people/Story,_Alan.html
PRADIP NINAN THOMAS (pradip.thomas@uq.edu.au), School of Journalism & Communication, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. His work involves the political economy of communications and he has published on the issue of copyright and communication.
JOSE ANTONIO TORRES REYES (joantreyes@gmail.com) teaches library and information science at the Universidad Autononoma de Nueva Leon in Monterey, Mexico.
ROBERTO VERZOLA (rverzola@gn.apc.org); Quezon City, Philippines Roberto is an electrical engineer and a social activist. His book "Towards a Political Economy of Information" came out 2004. He is now studying the phenomenon of abundance.
The CopySouth Coordinating Committee:
Alan Story
Debora Halbert
Nanci Odone
