Carmen Calvo Poyato is a politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party who served between 2004 and 2007 as Minister of Culture

Minister of Culture (Spain)

The Ministry of Culture of Spain is the departament of Spanish government responsible for culture. The current minister is Ángeles González Sinde, who succeeded César Antonio Molina in 2009.- Organization :* Ministry of Culture** Subsecretary of Culture...

 in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...

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Biography

She studied at the University of Seville

University of Seville

The Universidad de Sevilla or University of Seville, in English, is a top-ranked European university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of Colegio Santa María de Jesús in 1505, the University of Seville, with a student body of over 50,000, is one of the top-ranked universities in the country...

 and the University of Córdoba, where she received a doctorate in constitutional law

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

. Between 1995 and 2004 she served in the regional government of Andalucia under Manuel Chaves

Manuel Chaves

Manuel Chaves may refer to:* Manuel Antonio Chaves , figure in U.S.-Navajo and U.S. Civil War history* Manuel Chaves González , Second Vice President of the Spanish Government* Manuel Chaves Nogales, Spanish journalist...

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Minister of Culture

In the Spanish general election in March 2004, she was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies

Spanish Congress of Deputies

The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...

, representing Córdoba

Córdoba (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Córdoba is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is one of eight districts which correspond to the provinces of Andalusia. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election...

 and was subsequently appointed Minister of Culture by the new President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

As Minister of Culture, she was an outspoken opponent of copyright piracy

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

, and in 2005 her department spent around one million euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

s on a campaign to educate the public about the importance of intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

. However, she was criticised by music industry officials for her statement that intellectual property "is not an absolute right".