Emerging public perceptions of Intellectual Property

Social media has provided a platform for increased public debate around monopoly rights. Increasing the pressure of public perception, these debates have not only gained traction in the mainstream media but have also led to rightsholders reconsidering the management and enforcement of their Intellectual Property (IP).

As such, public engagement in IP debates is having an impact on enforcement, management and considerations around the appropriate scope of rights. 

Our research will focus on utilising legal databases and drawing on a network across academia, the legal sector and industry, conducting a thorough search of the relevant literature, including research papers, publications, reports and studies that discuss the topic.

We will also investigate media reporting on IP disputes, as well as social media and search engine analytics to identify cases studie

The results will be delivered as a report that provides a summary of the relevant literature, including key cases, analytics, and how the pressure from public perception effected the rightsholders decision to either enforce their rights or not. It will identify key trends and themes, as well as gaps that require further research.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr Hayleigh Bosher - Hayleigh is a Reader in Intellectual Property Law and Associate Dean (Professional Development and Graduate Outcomes) at Brunel University London, as well as, Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Intellectual Property, Policy and Management, a legal consultant in the creative industries, an advisor for the independent UK charity for professional musicians, Help Musicians, writer and Book Review Editor for the specialist IP blog IPKat. Hayleigh is well-recognised in the field of intellectual property law, in particular copyright law and the creative industries, and has attained an international reputation in the field of music copyright in particular. Her work in this area has been cited extensively in academic, practitioner and policy outputs and she is regularly interviewed by numerous national and international media outlets, including the BBC, ITV, Sky News, Channel 5 News and The Guardian, The Times and The Wall Street Journal. Hayleigh researches in the area of copyright and related laws in the creative industries, particularly in context of music, social media, and artificial intelligence and related technologies. Her research always involves public, policy and industry engagement, with an emphasis on helping creators understand their rights whilst at the same time ensuring that those rights are fairly balanced and adequately supported by law. As such, she is widely published in academic peer-reviewed journals, in the press, and has responded to a number of policy inquiries at international and national level. Her recent book; Copyright in the Music Industry, is accompanied with a playlist and podcast which she produces and co-hosts with Jules O'Riordan (AKA Judge Jules). She appeared before the DCMS Select Committee in relation to their Inquiry on the Economics of Music Streaming, the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee for their Inquiry on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence and the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee on Large Language Models. Hayleigh is a member of the UK Intellectual Property Office Research Experts Advisory Group, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence: Social and Digital Innovation, and the Research Centre for Law, Economics and Finance at Brunel. Hayleigh joined Brunel in 2018, having previously held positions at Coventry University, The University of the Arts London and the Academy of Digital Entertainment, Breda University (Netherlands). 

Project last modified 14/11/2023