Cultural Industries Research Group
Comprehensive Research and Support for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Olomouc Agglomeration
News
23. 4. 2026
online platforms
music industry
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Spotify for Artists (but were afraid to ask). CIRG member Miloš Blaháček has prepared a guide for musicians
The aim of the manual is to provide a systematic and accessible guide for artists, where they…
read moreProjects
ArchAIvist: Methodological and Technological Support for Working with Archival Audiovisual Material
TAČR: Programme for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA
The aim of the project is to offer documentary filmmakers tools to address the problems, challenges, and dilemmas faced by creators working with archival audiovisual material—issues that have ethical, legal, and technological dimensions. These tools will include 1) an ethical code and a guide to ethical dilemmas, intended for the professional training of documentary filmmakers; 2) a legal methodology for teaching best practices in handling archival audiovisual materials at secondary schools and universities with an artistic focus on audiovisual production; 3) educational workshops for FAMU students and other interested audiovisual creators; 4) an expert study contributing to the international discussion on the ethics of documentary film; 5) a prototype for the automated extraction and analysis of archival audiovisual content.
find out moreProblems of Access to Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age
Operational Programme Jan Amos Komenský 2021–2027: Social Sciences and Humanities – Humans and Humanity in the Global Challenges of the Present
The objectives of the project are to 1) implement four complementary research agendas focused on addressing problems and conflicts arising in connection with the curation, presentation, and accessibility of cultural heritage and its use for educational purposes; 2) organize a mid-term project conference at which pilot results of the research agendas will be presented to the academic community, project team members, and interested stakeholders from the cultural sector; 3) deepen existing or establish new cooperation between individual research teams and domestic institutions involved in the curation and presentation of cultural content and its educational use through digital tools; 4) deepen existing or establish new cooperation between the research teams involved in the project and international research institutions and teams working in the fields of platformization of media industries, museum education and digital curation of archival content, ethnographic research of media organizations and cultural heritage institutions, and research into the ethical and legal issues related to access to cultural heritage.
find out moreComprehensive Research and Support for the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Olomouc Agglomeration
Operational Programme Jan Amos Comenius 2021–2027: Intersectoral Cooperation for ITI
The main objectives of the project are to 1) design measures to improve the working conditions of creators in selected cultural sectors in the Olomouc agglomeration; 2) propose measures to balance or eliminate the negative impacts of the copyright system on selected cultural sectors in the Olomouc agglomeration; 3) develop a strategy for regional film offices on how to effectively support foreign audiovisual production in the region; 4) prepare a methodology for measuring effectiveness for founders of public-benefit cultural institutions.
find out moreOpportunities and Barriers to the Cross-Border Distribution of Czech Music Production
NAKI III: Programme for the Support of Applied Research in the Field of National and Cultural Identity for the Years 2023–2030
The aim of the project is to identify the barriers and opportunities related to the cross-border distribution of Czech music production and to propose measures for overcoming these barriers or leveraging existing opportunities.
find out moreSupporting the Export of Audiovisual Production: Tools for Measuring, Predicting, and Strengthening the Cross-Border Circulation of Czech Film and Television Works
TAČR: Programme for the Support of Applied Research and Innovation SIGMA
The main objective of the project is to develop a strategy and tools for a measurable and long-term sustainable increase in the export of Czech audiovisual production.
find out moreThe Ethics of Access to Audiovisual Online Content
Czech Science Foundation
The aim of the project is a legal and ethical analysis of the conflict between creators, producers, and distributors on the one hand and consumers on the other regarding access to premium audiovisual online content (films, television series, sports broadcasts), the availability of which within video-on-demand services is regulated through geo-blocking.
find out moreGlobal Media & Internet Concentration Project
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
The advent and massive expansion of the Internet and planetary scale digital platforms has breathed urgent new life into the enduring, simple, yet profound, question that animates this project: Have the media industries, individually and collectively, become more or less concentrated over time? This project brings together a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scholars and almost a dozen non-academic external partners to more consistently apply existing approaches and create new conceptual and methodological tools to address this question today.
find out moreCirg - about
CIRG – the Cultural Industries Research Group focuses on research into cultural and media industries, particularly on current issues, challenges, and conflicts arising from tensions between intellectual property law, the business models of cultural industries, the digitalization and platformization of cultural sectors, and changing consumer habits. The group’s name is an acronym of its English title, Cultural Industries Research Group. CIRG is an informal association of experts from media studies, intellectual property law, media law, media ethics, cultural economics and cultural management, sociology of culture, and data analysis. The group operates on the basis of project-based funding through applied research projects (TAČR, NAKI, EEA and Norway Grants, OP JAK Intersectoral Cooperation), basic research projects (GAČR, ZIF Bielefeld, OP VVV Excellent Research, DFG), as well as contract research (State Cinematography Fund, Association of Audiovisual Producers).
Manuals for artists
Spotify for Artists: A Complete Guide for Musicians
Miloš Blaháček
Freedom of Expression in Art: Controversial Content and Legal Risks
Maxim Tomoszek
Artist Status: What It Entails and How to Register
Rudolf Leška
How to Be Represented by a Collective Management Organization and Why
Jan Barták
How to Apply for Sickness Benefits
Martin Škurek
Research reports
Methodology for Mapping the Export of Czech Music
Michal Tomčík, Rudolf Leška, Jakub Řezníček, Pavel Zahrádka, Václav Hodonický, Rostislav Sliwka, Petr Szczepanik, Radim Červenka
research report details download the report in PDF
Physical and Mental Health of Actors in the Czech Republic
Jana Návratová
research report details download the report in PDF
Communications, Media and Internet Concentration in the Czech Republic, 2019–2022
Petr Szczepanik, Jan Bergl, Petr Lelek, Jan Hanzlík, Martin Mišúr
research report details download the report in PDF
A Study of Feature Film Development in the Czech Republic
Petr Szczepanik, Johana Kotišová, Jakub Macek, Jan Motal, Eva Pjajčíková
research report details download the report in PDF
Analysis of the Conditions of Czech Consumers’ Movement Between Sources of Legally and Illegally Distributed Audiovisual Content
Iveta Jansová, Jakub Macek, Alena Macková, Štěpán Žádník
research report details download the report in PDFNews / blog
23. 4. 2026 online platforms music industry
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Spotify for Artists (but were afraid to ask). CIRG member Miloš Blaháček has prepared a guide for musicians
The aim of the manual is to provide a systematic and accessible guide for artists, where they…
read more19. 4. 2026 media ethics
Geo-blocking under the ethical microscope: when does it protect culture and when does it merely restrict it? A new article by Pavel Zahrádka in the Journal of Media Ethics opens a major debate.
Debates over geo-blocking in the EU have long been shaped by a tension between efforts to ensure…
read more27. 3. 2026 online platforms copyright film industry
Does geo-blocking help the European film industry, or does it weaken it? This question is explored by Pavel Zahrádka and Rudolf Leška in the study published in Flexibilities in Copyright Law
The study, “Territoriality as a Copyright Inflexibility? The Case of European Film Distribution,” appears in Flexibilities in…
read more20. 2. 2026 online platforms music industry
The team led by Michal Tomčík prepared a methodology for mapping the export of Czech music on streaming platforms and radio stations
The methodology provides a summary of recommended practices and procedures that have been tested and validated by…
read moreget involved
Screen Industries in Central and Eastern Europe Research Group
SIRG
Charles University
Department of Film Studies
Lab head: Petr Szczepanik
sirg@ff.cuni.cz
PhD
We offer the opportunity to pursue doctoral study focused on developing and carrying out your own research projects in the field of cultural and media industries. The programme can be undertaken at Palacký University Olomouc, Charles University, or the Prague University of Economics and Business under the supervision of leading experts in media studies, cultural economics, digital ethics, and copyright law.
moreStudent Legal Clinic for Authors and Performing Artists
The Student Legal Clinic focuses on a wide range of legal issues, including copyright law. Supervisors overseeing the preparation of each legal opinion are always experts in the relevant field of law. The advice is provided free of charge.
more