Intellectual property and journalism

A looming crisis?

This week I hosted the third workshop of my podcast masterclass series. It was about the vital yet slightly technical issue of intellectual property in journalism, and in particular, podcasts.

For a few reasons, I can’t go into all the things we discussed. But here’s the gist, and what I think is important for any journalist who finds and creates stories.

Intellectual Property is usually defined as something you created with your mind. That covers many things, including certain types of journalistic work.  Over the last few years – especially as large streaming platforms have started making more TV shows and movies based on journalistic work – the subject has become increasingly important. It is unlikely that you will find yourself tangled up in a complicated IP battle with a Hollywood lawyer over an article you wrote. But it’s good to have a broad understanding of how this all works. Partly because I think there could be wider ramifications for journalism as a whole.