Season 8

We’re joined by Serena Barone from the International Artists Forum, an international organization built to connect author groups worldwide and strengthen the push for authors’ rights across borders. If you care about copyright, intellectual property, creator advocacy, and how culture gets protected, this season is for you.

We dig into why the International Artists Forum was founded in the first place. Serena explains how the Forum grew from a small start into a network of nearly 100 member organizations around the world, and why that kind of collective power matters when policy and markets move globally. 

We also get concrete about what the Forum actually does: supporting member organizations, helping them advocate with governments and international bodies, and acting as an exchange platform for the issues creators face right now. AI comes up as a major pressure point, raising urgent questions about how creative work is used and valued. We close with why this collaboration matters to us, and why spotlighting many different voices across the season can help listeners understand the real-world impact of IP decisions on writers, translators, visual artists, and academic authors. 

Subscribe for the full season, share this with a creator or IP colleague, and leave a review that tells us which authors’ rights topic you want us to tackle next.

Check out "Protection for the Inventive Mind" – available now on Amazon in print and Kindle formats.

The views and opinions expressed (by the host and guest(s)) in this podcast are strictly their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the entities with which they may be affiliated. This podcast should in no way be construed as promoting or criticizing any particular government policy, institutional position, private interest or commercial entity. Any content provided is for informational and educational purposes only.

Transcript

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Season Eight Announcement

Leticia Caminero 0:00

Season eight is finally coming. And this season is special. I had the pleasure to collaborate with an amazing association that opened the door for me to talk with remarkable professionals all around the author's realm. If you're curious, listen up to our special guest.

Meet Serena Barone And IAF

Serena Barone 0:24

So I'm Serena Barone and I work for THE INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS FORUM. First of all, thank you, Leticia, for this opportunity. And it was, of course, amazing

Why The Forum Was Founded

Serena Barone 0:36

working with you THE INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS FORUM is an international organization whose members are organizations of authors who was founded in 10 years ago, more or less, by a group of uh experts, writers that work at international level who came together because they found out that although they were uh working and lobby for authors' rights in their country, uh there was not any uh international organization who would uh group all of them and where they can feel the sense of community uh at the international level and helped each other to um fight uh for authors' rights around the world. So they came together and they decided to found these uh new organizations, which at the beginning was very, very small.

Growth Into A Global Network

Serena Barone 1:34

Um but thanks to their effort uh and to the effort of the founders' organization, they evolved. It evolved along the years, and at the moment, after uh 12 years, uh we have almost 100 organizations around the world who are members of the IAF. Um and it's it's like looking back, it's it's lovely to see how uh the power of authors and all these organizations became uh a big community where they helped each other and sustained each other um both at national level and uh international level.

What IAF Does For Authors

Serena Barone 2:14

So what we do uh is basically supporting our members who are organizations of authors, and when I mean when I talk about authors, uh it's not only writers, but also translators, visual artists, academic writers, uh different kinds of authors that we have in uh in the creative industry, and we help them to uh support lobbying for their rights, both at national levels, so with governments, but also at international levels. We act uh as a also as an exchange platform, so where representatives of authors can exchange their opinion on topic that or issue that uh they're facing at the moment. For example, AI is a big issue at the moment. So it's very we're a very interactive platform where we try to help each other and also raise awareness around the world about authors, uh writers, how important uh writers and artists are for our uh culture

Why Partner With This Podcast

Serena Barone 3:21

and our society foundation.

Leticia Caminero 3:24

Thank you so much, Serena. Now we have a clear picture of what the organization does and the contribution it makes. So now we can follow up with why you're here today. What brought you to Intangibilia and what led you to collaborate with us?

Serena Barone 3:41

We decided that it was important to give these authors voices. Of course, Intangibilia is a very, very popular podcast in IP, and we are more than happy to convene with you. So that's why uh we thought that a special podcast, which now is very popular, is a great opportunity to give all voices around the world the um the place that they they deserve, the the voice that they deserve. Uh, and we are very happy because, as you can see throughout the season, throughout the episodes, we have very different voices talking about their own experience and how their own experience is reflecting their writing. Uh, and I think it will be uh an amazing season, and I hope you all enjoy listening to them.

Disclaimer And Closing

Announcer 4:31

This podcast is provided for information purposes only and should not be considered as legal advice or legal opinion.