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School of Law

Dr Gaetano Dimita, Diploma di Laurea in Giurisprudenza (Rome), LLM (London), PhD (London), Avvocato (Italian Bar - Rome)

Gaetano

Reader in Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law

Email: g.dimita@qmul.ac.uk
Website: https://twitter.com/gaetanodimita

Profile

Dr Gaetano Dimita is a Reader in Interactive Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, where he focuses his research and teaching on Games and Interactive Entertainment Law.

He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review, Edward Elgar, the producer of the More Than Just a Game conference series; the co-author of Mastering the Game 2nd edition, WIPO, and a video games enthusiast.

Gaetano serves as Board Member of the National Video Game Museum; and as Executive Committee Member of BLACA (British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association), the UK national group of ALAI (Association Litteraire et Artistique Internationale). He is also a member of: the British Copyright Council - Copyright and Technology Working Group; the UK IPO Copyright Advisory Council; the UK Department for International Trade’s Intellectual Property Expert Trade Advisory Group (IP ETGA); the Italian Bar Association (Rome), the Video Game Bar Association; the Fair Play Alliance and the Higher Education Video Game Association. 

Research

Publications

Interactive Entertainment Law Review cover - green with 1:1 in the left cornerGaetano is the editor-in-chief of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review, published by Edward Elgar.

His publications include:

  • David Greenspan and Gaetano Dimita. Mastering the Game, 2nd edition, WIPO 2022
  • Gaetano Dimita, Yin Harn Lee, and Michaele MacDonald, Copyright Infringement in the video game industry, WIPO 2022
  • M. Longan, G. Dimita, J.D. Michels, and C. Millard, Cloud Gaming Demystified: An Introduction to the Legal Implications of Cloud-Based Video Games (October 25, 2021). Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. 369/2021, pages 1-95. Available at SSRN
  • G. Dimita, A. Rizzi, N. Serrao, ‘Image Rights, Creativity and Video Games’, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 2020, jpz178, https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpz178
  • ‘Networking Technologies’ in G. Dutfield & U. Suthersanen with G. Dimita and M. Mimler, Global Intellectual Property Law, 2nd edition, Edward Elgar. 2020
  • G. Dimita & R. Nurullaev, ‘The failure of the Russian global license proposal and the future of alternative remuneration systems’, Computer Law & Security Review, 2019. Vol. 35. No. 2. P. 157-172.
  • ‘The WIPO Right of Making Available’, in Paul Torremans, Research Handbook on Copyright Law, Second Edition, Edward Elgar, 2017
  • "Impact of Brexit on UK copyright law" Co-Authored with Florian Koempel, Phil Sherrell and Heather Randles, 2017
  • The Business of Being an Author: A Survey of Author’s Earnings and Contracts, April 2015 (co-author with Professor Johanna Gibson ad Professor Phillip Johnson)
  • ‘Six characters in search of infringement: potential liability for creating, downloading, and disseminating .torrent files’, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (2012) 7(6): 466-472

Supervision

Dr Dimita is currently only interested in doctoral applications in Games and Interactive Entertainment Law.

Current PhD students:

  • Anthony Michael Catton, Assessing a new theoretical lens for non-literal copying: Can Ludology help resolve theoretical gaps in copyright infringement assessments of interactive works
  • Alexandros Alexandrou, Interactive Entertainment and Successive Creativity: Reforming Copyright for Video Games and Successive Works
  • Michael Dunford, The Fanworks Problem After Twenty Years: A Critical Re-Assessment
  • Salvo Fasciana, Towards recognition of players' legal status: a proposal for Gamers' Bill of Right

Students who successfully obtained their doctorates:

Mary Gani-Ikilama, ‘An analysis of the effects of copyright law on the creative autonomy of the performing author in the Nigerian popular music industry’

Khanuengnit Khaosaeng, ‘Copyright and online fandom: the reconciliation between copyright holders and fan works Creators

Hee Sob Nam, ‘Human Rights Approach in Global Intellectual Property Regime: Trade Related v. Human Rights Related’  

Katerina Stechova, ‘How to Best “Sell” the “Best-seller” Clause? A review on whether the Contract adjustment mechanism proposed by the EU draft Digital Single Market Directive can secure fair (additional) remuneration for authors and performers’  

Pinar Oruc, ‘The Effect of Legal Traditions and Uncertainty on Online Copyright Regulations’

Chun-Chi Hung, ‘Is the State’s Registration System an Appropriate Approach to Protect Traditional Cultural Expressions?

Public Engagement

white Centre for Commercial Law Studies logo on top of the white More Than Just a Game logo on a blue backgroundMore Than Just a Game (MTJG)

Gaetano is creator and organiser of More Than Just a Game, a unique series of academic-led conferences on Games and Interactive Entertainment Law with events in London (the flagship two-day conference), Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt, Maastricht, Milan and Warsaw, with new locations added every year. Find out more about MTJG.

Speaking engagements

  • Dr Dimita spoke at the Levelling UP your IP Conference in Belgrade, 22 September 2022
  • Dr Dimita presented his study on Copyright Infringement and the Video Games industry at the 15th Advisory Committee on Enforcement meeting at WIPO, 31 August 2022
  • Dr Dimita spoke at RightsCom, 9 June 2022
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the QMIPRI Annual Conference, 9 June 2022
  • Dr Dimita will speak at the EUIPO Case Law conference in Alicante 20/21 May 2020
  • Dr Dimita will speak at the WIPO-WTO Advanced Course on IP for Government Officials in Geneva, 16-27 March 2020
  • Dr Dimita participated to the third meeting on the Role of Creative Industries in the context of the EU industrial policy organised by the EU Commission, DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs on the 18 February 2020
  • Dr Dimita spoke on ‘Tainting the public discourse – how recent reforms risk to push Copyright (and IP) off the edge of  the cliff 7th International IP Congress: “Recent IP developments in Europe”, Maastricht University, 7 June 2019
  • Dr Dimita spoke on Key games law issues in different countries’ and ‘Intellectual property rights management and trademarks in video games industry’, Mastering the Game, Warsaw, 16-17 November 2017
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the e-gameshow, Ankara, 11-14 May 2017
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the 6th International Summer School in Cyber Law (ISSC 2017), Moscow, 3-7 July 2017
  • Dr Dimita spoke at ‘Mastering the Game’, 16-17 November 2017, Warsaw
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the Digital Think-in Lab, MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, in Rome, 9 June 2017
  • Dr Dimita spoke on ‘Big Data: A Video Games Perspective’, at EIPIN International Conference, London, 27 January 2017
  • Dr Dimita spoke on ‘The Socio-Legal Regulation of the Creation, Consumption and Monetisation of Virtual Reality Heritage Assets, at Picture Library Symposium: Moore Stephens LLP, London 25 October 2016
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the ALAI 2016 International Congress ‘Applied Arts under IP Law: the Uncertain Border between Beauty and Usefulness’ in Rome, 15-16 September 2016
  • Dr Dimita Spoke at Zelous X, 12 January 2016
  • Dr Dimita spoke at City University on ‘Video games and IP: The intricate relationship between Interactivity and Creativity’, 2 December 2015
  • Dr Dimita spoke at MPA Copyright & Music Publishing Seminar, 5 November 2015
  • Dr Dimita spoke at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid on ‘Cartier International AG v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd – The next generation of site blocking orders is here’, 5 June 2015
  • Dr Dimita spoke at the ‘Private Use in EU Copyright Law’ Seminar at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 19 May 2015
  • Dr Dimita spoke at Bocconi University Milan on ‘New Public? Reading between the lines of the CJEU decisions’, 15 December 2014

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