Alert readers may have noticed the odd copyright question coming up in our ‘Five minutes with...’ interviews.

They may also have spotted a vague interest among the NZBC board in economic issues.

Because we are writers and editors and photographers, we are interested in understanding how to best protect individuals’ intellectual creations in a world that can instantly duplicate them. And what constitutes “fair use” and what “a big fat rip-off”.

So we spent a few online moments with a Uni of Canterbury Uni academic who specialises in the economics of copyright. Great that someone does.