Special Collections – Digital Streaming of Entertainment Content and The Regulation of Social Media Entertainment

Posted by Andrew Lockett on 2021-06-03

The Entertainment and Sports Law Journal is an established and internationally recognised online open access journal publishing open access with no author fees since 2002. It is currently published by the University of Westminster Press working with Michigan Publishing and the Janeway journals system.    

1.     Digital Streaming of Entertainment Content 
The Editors wish to embrace a variety of different disciplinary approaches to the broad area of Content Streaming. Suggested topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

Control over access for both established and new artists Artist perspectives
Content controversy and content control Copyright issues
Royalty Calculation and Distribution
Licensing and geo blocked content
Impact on existing market models
Delivery and environmental concerns.
Playlists and Recommendations

Authors are encouraged to submit material rooted in their own disciplinary perspective or from a cross disciplinary view.

2.     The Regulation of Social Media Entertainment 
Cunningham and Craig refer to Social Media Entertainment SME) as: ‘an emerging proto-industry fuelled by professionalizing, previously amateur content creators using new entertainment and communicative formats, including vlogging, gameplay, and do-it-yourself (DIY), to develop potentially sustainable businesses based on significant followings that can extend across multiple platforms’ (2019, 13).

Social media has developed exponentially from primarily being a source of information or a means to connect and share experiences to a vehicle to both host and consume entertainment content. Thus, Social Media has become part of the entertainment industry in its own right. This is in addition to the use of Social Media platforms such as YouTube to deliver more traditionally created content.

What are the implications of this new ‘proto-industry’ for the other parts of the industry, creators and consumers as the old regulatory structures dissipate? What is the impact on the creative artist in terms of ownership and payment? Are copyright concerns magnified in this new environment?

We consider regulation in its broadest sense to cover both control by platforms and self-censorship in addition to more traditional legal intervention. Gaps in regulation are just as significant. Pieces may cover broader themes such as the protection of minors or self-censorship that cut across different areas or more specific case studies.

Again, we encourage work from disciplines other than law especially from the creative field. We also welcome shorter pieces of work as well as full length articles.   The Editors are proposing two special collections to be published between 1 October 2021 – March 2022. Articles to be published iteratively based on full text submission according to the ESLJ guidelines: https://www.entsportslawjournal.com/site/author-guidelines.

Our article types are:   

Research Articles: 6,000-8,000 words
Interventions: up to 4,000 words
Commentaries: up to 3,000 words
Book Reviews/Reviews: 1,000 to 2,000 words
Multimedia

If you would like to run an idea past an ESLJ editor or require any further information please contact Dr Steve Greenfield on S.Greenfield@westminster.ac.uk