Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual property law forms an integral part of modern information law that is central to the determination of the legality of the distribution of information, particularly through digital means.

The Information Law and Policy Centre’s work on intellectual property law has focused primarily on the law of copyright.

The Centre has been particularly interested in the relationship between human rights and copyright, the issue of intermediary liability for copyright infringement and the need to re-evaluate the position of copyright in the modern economic and technological landscape.

IALS Resources

External Resources

  • CopyrightUser.com: CopyrightUser.org is an independent online resource aimed at making UK Copyright Law accessible to creators, media professionals, entrepreneurs, students and members of the public. The goal is to provide answers to the most pressing concerns creators have about copyright, helping them understand their rights.
  • OutofCopyright.eu: Modern users are continuously confronted with complex intellectual property laws that make determining the status of a work vested with copyright or similar rights very difficult. OutOfCopyright.eu provides two tools – the Public Domain Calculators and maps on rights after digitisation – to help answer the question of whether a work is in the public domain or not.
  • WhoIsHostingThis: a free tool that allows anyone to see who hosts a particular website. One of the most common uses of the tool is in the course of investigating copyright infringement.

Past IALS Events

  • Online platforms and copyright – All you wanted to know but never asked, training session hosted by MEP Catherine Stihler (S&D) with Christina Angelopoulos, Open Forum Europe, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, 13 July 2016.
  • 3D Printing in Law and Society, book launch of ‘Socio-Legal Aspects of the 3D Printing Revolution’ by Angela Day (Palgrave 2016), IALS, London, UK, 12 July 2016.
  • Intellectual Property and the Politics of Knowledge, workshop in collaboration with Hyo Yoon Kang and Jose Bellido (Kent Law School, University of Kent), IALS, London, UK, 20 May 2016.
  • Accommodating freedom of expression within copyright: independent exception?, CREATe ‘Copyright and Free Speech’, workshop in collaboration with Daithí Mac Síthigh (Newcastle Law School & Advisory Board of the Information Law and Policy Centre) and Emily Laidlaw (University of Calgary), IALS, London, UK, 8 April 2016.
  • Evaluating Legal Responses to Threats to News in a Digital Environment, workshop aimed at discussing potential legal responses to threats to the production of news in a digital environment. Particular attention was paid to copyright. With Richard Danbury (University of Cambridge), Lionel Bently (University of Cambridge) and Ian Hargreaves (Cardiff University), IALS, London, UK, 3 November 2015.