Creative Sector Stakeholders Discuss the Value of Copyright
The event Unlocking Intellectual Property Financing: A Workshop on Copyright Valuation, held in early November, brought together creative sector stakeholders, as well as representatives of business financing, public administration and business organisations, to discuss copyright valuation. Cupore organised the event in collaboration with the IPR University Center.
The discussions explored the significance of copyright as an intangible business asset, the challenges involved in valuing creative works, and the use of copyright as collateral for financing.
Perspectives on Intellectual Property Valuation
The event opened with three expert presentations exploring the valuation of intellectual property from both sector-specific and international perspectives. Jari Muikku, Executive Director of the Finnish Music Publishers Association, discussed the fundamentals of intellectual property valuation from the perspective of the music industry. Charlotta Henriksson, Head of Research Services at HYKS-instituutti Oy, explored valuation issues at the intersection of law and economics.
Luis Soriano, Associate Program Officer in the Global Challenges, Opportunities and Partnerships Sector at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), presented WIPO’s work regarding intellectual property-based financing and valuation in the creative industries. Although the event focused on Finnish stakeholders, the valuation of intangible assets is an important area for development internationally. Establishing consistent assessment criteria and reliable valuation methods is a global challenge.
Workshops Explored Shared Challenges
The workshop sessions gave participants the opportunity to share their views and experiences on three themes: the significance of copyright as an intangible business asset, the current state of copyright valuation in Finland, and the role of copyright in business financing.
The group discussions provided a forum to exchange experiences, identify common challenges and examine the role of copyright from the perspectives of business and finance. Alongside creative sector stakeholders, the discussions involved representatives from public administration, research, as well as the financial and business sectors. The diversity of participants’ perspectives made it possible to explore issues relating to copyright valuation and its commercial exploitation across sectors and industries.
Sakarias Sokka, Anna Vuopala, Tiina Kautio and Kimmo Aulake present the results of the workshop.
Making the Economic Value of Copyright Visible
Copyright is becoming an increasingly significant part of companies’ intangible assets. Recognising its economic value opens up new opportunities for business development in the creative industries.
In Finland, the current state of copyright valuation and the use of copyright as collateral for financing raise interesting questions about how intangible assets can be better integrated into companies’ financial activities.
The lively discussions demonstrated that questions relating to copyright valuation are also of interest to stakeholders beyond the creative industries. The event provided an opportunity to examine, from different perspectives, how copyright could be better recognised and taken into account as a business asset. For example, the potential use of copyright as collateral for financing raises a number of interesting questions that call for further investigation.
The event was part of Cupore’s project The Value of Copyright, which examines copyright valuation practices in Finland and explores opportunities for their development. The experiences shared at the event and the perspectives raised in the discussions will feed into the project’s report, to be published in January 2027.
