Dr Kristofer Erickson

Profile

I am an Associate Professor in Media and Communication. My research is focused on the regulation of online interactions through law and social norms. I primarily work with quantitative data and research methods to empirically assess the impact of policy changes on online communities.

I am particularly interested in the behavior of creative communities such as YouTube video makers, Wikimedia contributors and small independent firms in the creative sector. My current research examines the interactions between market and non-market incentives within commons-based peer production.

Prior to joining the University of Leeds, I was Lord Kelvin / Adam Smith Research Fellow in Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.  As part of the CREATe Centre for Copyright and the Creative Economy, I conducted RCUK-funded research on the economics of copyright and the public domain.

Responsibilities

• Director of Research and Innovation

Research interests

Previous funded research projects include studies of copyright and the creative industries, user-led innovation and digital regulation. An ESRC-funded project, Valuing the Public Domain, studied the uptake and circulation of expressions not in copyright. I was one of the Principal Investigators from 2015-2018 on ENDoW: Enhancing access to 20th Century Cultural Heritage through Distributed Orphan Works Clearance, a multi-country project to develop a crowdsourcing solution for copyright clearance in cultural institutions. My current research examines new forms of collaborative production and the regulatory mechanisms that shape them. 

Current Research Themes

• what happens when commons-based communities encounter market incentives?
• the role of intellectual property management in innovation
• valuing the Wikimedia economy: how much does open information contribute to social welfare?
• impacts of Artificial Intelligence on creative industry business practices

External Roles

Member of the editorial team of Internet Policy Review, a peer-reviewed open access journal on Internet Regulation published by the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Germany, in collaboration with CREATe, UK, CNRS, France, and the Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona.

Fellow, RCUK Center for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe).

Co-founder and Managing Editor (2017–2018) Copyright Evidence Wiki, a peer-produced repository of empirical evidence about the economic and social impact of copyright.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

• PhD University of Washington
• MA Queen's University
• BA University of Burgundy

Student education

I lead undergraduate modules on Research Methods, Internet Policy, and Creative Industries. I teach MA modules on research design and digital methods, and I supervise MA dissertation projects on those topics.

 

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>