About us

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).

At present, members of the group are involved in the project Comprehensive Research and Support for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Olomouc Agglomeration, funded under the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme 2021–2027: Intersectoral Cooperation for ITI. The objectives of the project are to produce expert background materials and outputs to support the development of cultural industries and sectors in the Olomouc agglomeration; to create educational materials that will help artists in the region address issues related to the creation of copyrighted works and artistic performances, their protection, dissemination, and valorization; and to provide artists in the region with legal support in the form of legal counselling and educational workshops. The project also includes the preparation of policy-oriented studies on the impact of the copyright system on cultural sectors, artists’ working conditions, and audiovisual policy. These studies are intended for representatives of public administration regulating cultural sectors and industries (State Audiovisual Fund, Copyright Unit of the Ministry of Culture, and Department of Arts, Literature and Libraries of the Ministry of Culture) and will serve as a basis for revising state cultural policy.

In our work, we follow three principles:

Openness: Cultural policy lacks demonstrable and up-to-date empirical evidence due to the dynamically developing business models of cultural industries, technological change, and rapidly evolving consumer habits. Generating and synthesizing knowledge across disciplines therefore requires an open approach. The aim of CIRG is to involve users of research outputs in the implementation of research projects at all stages, and users of educational materials in their creation and in testing their usability and practical relevance. All publication outputs of the group follow the principles of open access: public money, public good.

Interdisciplinarity: Norms and rules regulating cultural sectors are not merely a legal issue. Questions of cultural regulation are inherently political and cannot be resolved from the perspective of a single discipline. CIRG’s research projects therefore involve interdisciplinary collaboration. Within individual projects, we cooperate with domestic and international experts in data analysis, media studies, media ethics, sociology, cultural economics, cultural management, intellectual property law, social security law, information technology law, and media law.

Relevance: CIRG’s ambition is to contribute to addressing current issues related to the functioning of cultural sectors and work in the creative industries. In a rapidly changing technological environment, it is essential to consider effective and sustainable solutions to problems and challenges from a long-term perspective. We therefore seek to respond to current topics without being hasty. Our contributions to cultural policy focus primarily on audiovisual and music policy, copyright policy in the Czech Republic and the EU, cultural export policy, regulation of streaming platforms, effective governance of public cultural institutions, innovation in public service media in the online environment, and labor conditions in culture.