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Professor Guido Westkamp, Dr jur (University Münster), First and Second German State Examination in Law, LLM (London)

Guido

Professor of Intellectual Property and Comparative Law

Email: g.westkamp@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 8096

Profile

Professor Dr Guido Westkamp holds a Chair in Intellectual Property, Media and Comparative Law at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London. He is also a permanent Visiting Professor at the Institute for Information, Media and Telecommunication Law, University of Münster, and Co-Director of the European Intellectual Property Institutes Network (EIPIN). 

He has published more than eighty outputs including three monographs, three edited volumes and more than fifty peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and has received research funding for numerous research and training projects (including EU pre-accession advice)  from, inter alia, the European Commission, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) as well as from the German Academic Exchange Service, the British Council (Newton Fund) and the Westfield Trust. 

He holds or has held visiting titles at universities in China (Shanghai), Colombia (Bogota), Hongkong, France (Strasbourg), Germany (Dresden and Münster), Spain (Alicante and Madrid), Kazakhstan, Poland (Wroclaw), Taiwan and the Unites States (NYU) and was a member of doctoral examination panels in the UK, Germany, Croatia and the Netherlands. He also acts as legal consultant to the British Screen Forum. 

His work was cited by the Court of Justice for the European Union, the German Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is an elected member of the Association for Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), the European Association for Private International Law (EAPIL) and the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Society (BLACA). He acts, or has acted, as reviewer for several journals including the Journal of International  Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC), Cambridge Law Journal, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, German Yearbook of International Law and the European Intellectual Property Review; he is a member of the Advisory Board of the Revista de Propriedad Intelectual (Bogota) and of the Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law, Münster and served as grant reviewer for, inter alia, the European Commission and the Finnish Academy of Science. 

At CCLS, he convenes modules on EU Digital Copyright Law, Design Law and Competition Law and acts as PhD advisor. He is also Programme Director for the MSc Intellectual Property, Data and Information Law and for the University of London External LLM Copyright Law module.  

He is a member of the Association for the Teaching and Research of Intellectual Property (ATRIP), the European Association for Private International Law (EAPIL), the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association (BLACA/ALAI) and the Society of Legal Scholars.

Professor Westkamp holds a PhD (Dr jur) from the University of Münster (summa cum laude), an LL.M. from the University of London (Queen Mary), and a Certificate in Anglo-American Law (Münster). He studied Law and English and Russian Philology in Berlin, Münster, St Petersburg and London (First and Second German State Examination in Law 1997 and 2000, LLM 2001, Dr jur 2002). He is a qualified German advocate.

Postgraduate Teaching

Professor Westkamp is Programme Director for the Intellectual Property, Data and Information Law MSc and Programme Director for the University of London External LLM in International and Comparative Law of Copyright and Related Rights. He was previously Programme Director for the MSc in Intellectual Programme Management (2009-2022). He has developed numerous postgraduate curriculae. Past modules convened include Digital Intellectual Property (SOLM097); Intellectual Property Transactions; Personality, Publicity and Celebrity Rights (Paris LLM QLLP015); Branding, Luxury Goods and Intellectual Property (Paris LLM QLLP004).

Current teaching:

Research

My research focusses predominantly on comparative legal aspects of digitisation, with an emphasis on intellectual property, copyright and personality rights, informed by constitutional and EU law as well as theoretical approaches, in particular systems theory. Current research interests include platform regulation, artificial intelligence and the impact of fundamental rights on IP within divergent constitutional systems. Current and past research interests, as indicated by relevant publications, include specifically:

  • Digital Copyright Law
  • “Digital” fundamental rights
  • AI regulation
  • Legal Theory and Transnational Law in the Context of Digitisation
  • Relationship between privacy and online regulation
  • Platform liability (specifically copyright and personality rights)
  • “Big data” and data rights (property rights; access rights)
  • Intersections between AI, platform regulation and fundamental rights
  • Open Access and Academic Publishing
  • Intellectual Property regulation of creative industries (Music, Film, Fashion, Publishing)
  • Privacy, Data Protection and Publicity Rights
  • Unfair competition and trade mark law
  • Evolution of law in relation to transnational and international IP law; normative hierarchies
  • Comparative Copyright and Unfair Competition Law
  • EU harmonisation; effects of secondary legislation on national laws and methodology
  • IP-related Competition Law (licensing, vertical restraints, technology transfer, abuse of dominant position and compulsory licenses, FRAND agreements, Digital Markets)
  • “Lex digitalis" and private norm setting, technological protection measures (“code”)
  • Freedom of competition, convergences between trade mark, designs and unfair competition law
  • Culture and Traditional Knowledge
  • Private International Law and Cross-Border Enforcement relating to IP and unfair competition.

Publications

Monographs and Edited Volumes

  • Digital Copyright Law (Textbook), Routledge: London 2025.
  • Westkamp/Shemtov (eds.), Artifical Intelligence and the Right to Object, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham 2025.
  • The End of Copyright, Edward Elgar 2025.  
  • Copyright Law (Textbook and Study Guide), University of London Press 2024.
  • Lee/Westkamp/Kur/Ohly, Intellectual Property, Unfair Competition and Publicity – Convergences and Development, European Intellectual Property Networks Series Vol. I, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar 2013.
  • Privacy & Publicity, Nomos: Baden-Baden 2011, 305 pp.
  • Westkamp/Götting, Immaterialgüterrecht. Das Verhältnis von Geistigem Eigentum und Menschenrechten, Verlag Ibidem, Hannover 2008.
  • Emerging Issues in Intellectual Property: Trade, Technology and Market Freedom, Essays in Memory of Herchel Smith, Queen Mary Studies in Intellectual Property Vol. XII, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2007.
  • Der Schutz von Datenbanken und Informationssammlungen im britischen und deutschen Recht – eine vergleichende Untersuchung des Rechtszustandes nach Umsetzung der EU-Datenbankrichtlinie unter Berücksichtigung des Urheberrechts, des Datenbankherstellerrechts und des Wettbewerbsrechts, München: C.H. Beck 2003, 538 + XXXVI pp.

Series Editor

  • European Intellectual Property Networks Series, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (with Desantes/Drexl/Geiger/Kamperman Sanders).

Articles, Book Chapters, Commissioned Reports

  • Data Retention, Information Disclosure and Copyright Enforcement: A Truly “High Standard” of Protection (2024) SSRN (18 pp.). 
  • Borrowed Plumes: Taking Artists’ Interests Seriously in Artificial Intelligence Regulation (2024) SSRN: (28 pp) (Preprint). 
  • Computer-implemented Inventions, in: Torremans/Stamatoudi/Yu/Jütte, Elgar Encyclopedia of Intellectual Property Law, Edward Elgar 2024.
  • Multi-territorial Licensing, in: Torremans/Stamatoudi/Yu/Jütte, Elgar Encyclopedia of Intellectual Property Law, Edward Elgar 2024.
  • Amicus Curia Brief in Support of Petitioners, United States Supreme Court, [2023] Docket No. 21-104, Abitron Austria GmbH, et al., Petitioners, v. Hetronic International, Inc., Respondent (Extraterritorial Effects in Trade Mark Law).
  • QMIPRI Response to the Law Commission’s Digital Assets Consultation Paper (2023) SSRN Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. 396/2022, pp. 1-7 (with. Gabison, Macdonald, Suthersanen). 
  • Digital Copyright Enforcement after Article 17 DSMD; Platform Liability between Privacy, Property and Subjective Access Rights 14 (2022) 4 Zeitschrift für Geistiges Eigentum | Intellectual Property Journal (ZGE | IPJ) 400-466. 
  • In it for the Money? Academic Publishing, Open Access and the Authors’ Claim to Self-Determination in Private International Law 71 (2022) GRUR International - Journal of international and European IP Law (GRUR Int.) 1034-1047.
  • Licensability as Property?, in: Gustavo Ghidini & Valeria Falce (eds.), The Future of IP—Reform Proposals (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing 2022), 262-291.
  • Two Constitutional Cultures, Technological Enforcement and User Creativity: The Impending Collapse of the EU Copyright Regime?53 (2022) International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC) 62-93.
  • Data(base) Rights? – Misappropriation, Property, and Tales of Trials and Tribulations, in: Sharon K. Sandeen, Christoph Rademacher & Ansgar Ohly, Research Handbook on Information Law and Governance, Edward Elgar 2020, pp. 77-120.
  • Referenz und Transformation im britischen Copyright Law 2 (2019) Archiv für Medienrecht und Medienwissenschaften (UFITA) 42-61.  
  • Persönlichkeitsschutz in Großbritannien (England und Wales), in: Götting/Schertz/Seitz, Handbuch Persönlichkeitsrecht, 2. Aufl., CH Beck: München. 2019, 1254-1289.
  • Country Reports United Kingdom, in: Wiebe et al., (ed.), Rights clearance for online music : legal and practical problems from the perspective of a content provider and alternative models, Manz: Medien und Recht, Vienna 2017.
  • Book Review, Guibaut/Wiebe, Safe to be Open: Study on the Protection of Research Data and Recommendations for Access and Usage 36 (2017) European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR) 822-823.
  • Exhaustion and the Internet as a Distribution Channel: the Relationship Between Intellectual Property and European Law in Search of Clarification, in: Calboli/Lee: Research Handbook on Intellectual Property Exhaustion and Parallel Imports, Cheltenham 2016, 498-517. 
  • Study on voluntary collaboration practices in addressing online infringements of trade mark rights, design rights, copyright and rights related to copyright, Alicante: EUIPO 2016 (with T. Hoeren und Deloitte Madrid), 377 pp.
  • Intellectual Property and Human Rights: Reputation, Integrity and the Advent of Corporate Personality Rights, in: C. Geiger (ed.), Research Handbook on Intellectual Property and Human Rights, Cheltenham 2015, 389-408.
  • Country Reports Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, in: Assessment of the impact of the European copyright framework on digitally-supported education and training practices;  European Commission, DG Connect, Final Report Brussels 2015.
  • Copyright and Licensing Aspects of Film Literacy in the EU, in: Showing Films in Schools, Final Report, DG Connect, Brussels: European Commission 2015, ISBN: 978-92-79-45295-6.
  • Copyright Reform and Necessary Flexibilities (2014) 45 International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC) 497-500.
  • Sui Generis Rights, Unfair Competition and Extended Causes of Action, in: N. Lee/G.Westkamp/A. Kur/A. Ohly, Intellectual Property, Unfair Competition and Publicity – Convergences and Development, European Intellectual Property Networks Series Vol. I. , Cheltenham 2013, 61-96.
  • Intellectual property, unfairness and speech – convergences and development, in: N. Lee/G.Westkamp/A. Kur/A. Ohly, Intellectual Property, Unfair Competition and Publicity – Convergences and Development, European Intellectual Property Networks Series Vol. I. , Cheltenham 2013, 1-10.
  • The New German Publishers Right – A Violation of European Law? (2013) Queen Mary Intellectual Property Journal 241-250.
  • Private Life and the Margin of Appreciation 51 (2012) 3 International Legal Materials (ILM) 423-427. 
  • Öffentliche versus private Kommunikation im europäischen Urheberrecht (2012) Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht (EuZW) 689-702.
  • Emerging Escape Clauses? Online Exhaustion, Consent and European Copyright Law, in: Jan Rosén (ed.), Intellectual Property at the Crossroads of Trade, ATRIP Yearbook 2011, Cheltenham 2012, 38-66.
  • The Donner Case and the “Target Country” Principle (2012) Kluwer Copyright Blog.
  • Code, Copyright, Competition: The Subversive Force of Para-Copyright and the Need for an Unfair Competition based Re-Assessment of DRM Laws after Infopaq 58 [2011] 1 Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 665-720.  
  • Criminalising IP in the UK: From Trade Mark Use to Illicit Downloads, in: C. Geiger (ed.), Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property: A Blessing or a Curse?, Cheltenham 2012, 310-340. 
  • Personality Trade Marks and their Limits [2011] 2 Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 31-36.
  • Originality and Databases (2011) Kluwer Copyright Blog.
  • Review Article: G. Davies/K. Garnett, Moral Rights (2011) Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property 306-307. 
  • Review Article, Klett/Sonntag, IP Law in Germany [2010] Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 411-413.
  • „Property“ und „Celebrity Rights“: Zum Schutz von Lizenzen an Persönlichkeitsaspekten im englischen Recht, in: H.‐P. Götting/C. Schlüter (Hrsg.), 
    Nourissance de l’Ésprit: Festschrift für Dieter Stauder,  Nomos: Baden‐Baden 2010, 307-328.
  • Review Article: Walter/v. Lewinski, European Copyright Law, [2010] 6 Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, 263-265.
  • The Digital Economy Act 2010 and Copyright Liability: Initial Observations on the Dangers of Self-Regulation [2010] Computer Law Review International (CRI) 170-178.
  • Code Protection, End Users and Fair Use: Mutations of the Copyright Nexus Debate [2009] 10 Computer Law Review International (CRI) 104-109.
  • The Legal Protection of Commercial Aspects of Privacy: Confidentiality and Passing Off, in: P. Machnikowski (ed.), Prace z Prawa - Articles on civil law. A Tribute to Professor Jan Kosik, Wroclaw 2009, 41-63.
  • Direct Appropriation, Unfair Competition and Quasi-Proprietary Rights: the Decline of Freedom of Speech in Web 2.0 [2009] 2 EIPR 73-80.
  • The Three-Step Test and Copyright Limitations in Europe: European Copyright Law between Approximation and National Decision Making 55  [2008]  2  Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 401-465.
  • Declaration on a Balanced Interpretation of The "Three-Step Test" In Copyright Law (with Geiger, Hilty, Griffiths, Suthersanen et al.) [2008] IIC 707-713.
  • Der Schutz der Persönlichkeit im britischen Recht (§ 64), in: H.-P. Götting/C Schertz/W Seitz (Hrsg), Handbuch des Persönlichkeitsrechts, München 2008.
  • A Story of Copyright in Adaptations [2008] 3 Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 156-159.  
  • The Limits of Open Source: Lawful User Rights, Exhaustion and Co-Existence with Copyright Law [2008] 1 Intellectual Property Quarterly (IPQ) 14-58.
  • Intellectual Property, Misappropriation and Unfair Competition: Europe’s Quest for Database Protection (Symposium) 57 [2008] 3 Case Western Reserve Journal 1.  
  • Review Article: M Glader, Innovation Markets and Competition Analysis 1 [2007] Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 849-850.
  • Changing Mechanisms in Copyright’s Ontology – Structure, Reasoning and the Fate of the Public Domain”, in: G. Westkamp (ed.), Emerging Issues in Modern Intellectual Property: Trade, Technology, MarketFreedom, Essays in Memory of Herchel Smith, Queen Mary Studies in Intellectual Property Vol. XII, Edward Elgar, 2007, pp. 78-103, ISBN 1 84542 775 0. 
  • Guibault,/Hugenholtz/Westkamp/Rieber-Mohn et al: Study on the Impact of Directive 2001/29/EC on Online Business Models, (Study Contract No. ETD/2005/IM/D1/91/1), Brussels: European Commission 2007, 213 pp.
  • Study on the implementation and effect in Member States’ laws of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society: Implementation of Directive 2001/29/EC in the Member States, 482 pp. (Study Contract No. ETD/2005/IM/D1/91/2), Brussels: European Commission 2007. 
  • Information Access, Lex Digitalis and Fundamental Rights in Modern Copyright Law, in:  F. Macmillan (ed.), New Directions in Copyright, Volume IV, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2007, pp. 224-251, ISBN 1 84542 263 5.
  • Personality Rights: Post Mortem Protection and Domain Name  Use [2007] Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 720-725. 
  • Characterization and Incidental Question in German Private International Law: The Problem of 'Limping Marriages (Qualifikation und Vorfrage im Internationalen Privatrecht am Beispiel hinkender Ehen), 28 pp., (2007) SSRN Research Paper.  
  • Intellectual Property, Competition Rules and the Emerging Internal Market: Some Thoughts on the European Exhaustion Doctrine [2007] 1 Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review 292-334.
  • Digital Rights Management, Internet Governance and the Autopoiesis of Modern Copyright Law [2005-2006] 4 Contemporary Issues in Law 318-338.
  • Hyperlinks, Circumvention Technology and Contributory Infringement – A Precarious Tale from German Jurisprudence [2006] 4 Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Policy 309-313.
  • Review Article: T Aplin, Copyright Law in the Digital Society [2006] 4 Oxford Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Policy, 291-292.
  • Durchsetzbarkeit von Immaterialgüterrechten in Bulgarien (2006) Wirtschaft und Recht in Osteuropa (WiRO) (with M Blakeney and J Gibson), 271-276.
  • Copyright, Author's Rights and Internet Regulation - the End of the Public Domain or Constitutional Re-Conceptualization?, in: M. P. Pugatch (Ed.), The Intellectual Property Debate: Perspectives from Law, Economics and Political Economy, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006, 268-292.
  • Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions in Private International Law: A Preliminary Appraisal, in: F.Macmillan & K Bowrey (eds.), New Directions in Copyright, Volume III, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006, 172-198. 
  • Research Agreements and Joint Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights in Private International Law 6 [2006] 37 International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC) 637-661, 
  • Intellectual Property Rights Issues of Digital Publishing - Presence and Perspectives (2005) 2:2 SCRIPT-ed, 144-244 (Contributor).
  • International and Comparative Law of Copyright and Related Rights Study Guide,, 1st ed. University of London 2005, 422 pp.
  • Protection of Biological Material in Copyright?: From Bioinformatics back to Biotechnology Copyright? [2005] 19 IPR-Helpdesk Bull, 2-7. 
  • Overlapping Intellectual Property Protection and the Proportionality Principle in International Trade Regulation, in: F. W. Grosheide/J.J. Brinkhof (eds.), Articles on Crossing Borders, Molengrafica Series, Antwerpen 2005, 89-109.
  • Database Protection under an Intellectual Property Model: Has the Time Come for a Flexible Assessment?, in: H. Hansen (ed.) 8 Fordham International Intellectual Property Law & Policy, Ch. 37, Juris Pub., New York 2005.
  • Transient Copying and Public Communications - The Creeping Evolution of Use and Access Rights in European Copyright Law [2004] 36(5) George Washington International Law Review (GWILR) ISSN 1058-1108. 
  • Report on Copyright Harmonisation in Bulgaria: Enforcement of “Digital Rights”, (88 pp.), European Commission, DG Enlargement, Brussels: European Commission 2005.
  • Intellectual Property and Access to Genetic Material - Copyright as an Alternative Form of Protection? [2004] 4 Journal of International Biotechnology Law (JIBL) 115-120.
  • Convergence of Intellectual Property Rights and the Establishment of "Hybrid" Protection under TRIPs, in F. Macmillan (Ed.), New Directions in Copyright, Volume 1, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2004, ISBN: 1 84542 2600.
  • Common Law Misappropriation Concepts Surpass Material Reciprocity: The Investments in Collections of Information Bill 2003, [2004] 1 Computer Law Review International (CRI) 1-6, ISSN 1610-7608.
  • Patent Protection for Computer Software in the United States [2004] IPR Helpdesk Guide (12 pp.).
  • Protecting Databases under US and European Law: Methodical Approaches to the Protection of Investments between Unfair Competition and Intellectual Property Concepts, [2003] 34 International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (IIC) 772-803. 
  • TRIPs Principles, Reciprocity and the Creation of Sui-Generis-Type Intellectual Property Rights for New Forms of Technology, [2003] 6 The Journal of World Intellectual Property 827-859.
  • Legal Protection of Topographies of Semiconductors [2003] IPR Helpdesk Guides (11 pp.). 
  • Joint Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights [2003] IPR-Helpdesk Bull. Vol. 14, 2-3.  
  • Towards Access Rights in UK Copyright Law: Some Remarks on the Proposed Implementation of the EU Copyright Directive [2003] 1 Computer Law Review International 11-17.
  • Research Collaboration and Joint Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights  [2003] IPR Helpdesk Guide (15 pp.).
  • Balancing Database Sui Generis Right with European Monopoly Control under Article 82 (1) EC [2001] European Competition Law Review 13-24. 
  • Internationales Privatrecht ausserhalb des UN-Kaufrechts, in: D Janzen/ J Alpmann/ J Steinhoff, UN-Kaufrecht – Das Recht des internationalen Kauf /Lie¬fer¬vertrags, Münster: Verlag Alpmann Schmidt, 2. Aufl. 1998, S. 129-152.

Public Engagement

Professor Guido Westkamp will, from 2013, participate as an expert on European copyright law in a project concerning the “Assessment of the impact of the European copyright framework on digitally-supported education and training practices”, funded by the European Commission, DG Media and Culture.

Professor Guido Westkamp is further part of a multi-institutional project -“Enhancing Intellectual Property Capacities for Agricultural Development - IP4Growth”, co-financed by the European Commission through the ACP Edulink programme. The program aims to provide assistance to beneficiary universities in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Senegal in order to contribute to the agricultural and socio-economic development in West African countries and to strengthen their competences in Intellectual Property (IP) management.

In 2013-2014, Prof Westkamp further took part in a multi-disciplinary research project on film literacy, commissioned by the European Commission (DG Media and Culture), where he was in charge of issues concerning the use of films for educational purposes under European copyright laws. He further participated in a research project addressing questions of collective licensing of music for digital uses, commissioned by the Austrian Internet Service Providers Association.

He further sits on the advisory board for the European Commission’s General Directorate for Research and Innovation stakeholder forum as part of the study “Innovation Union Commitment 21 on Knowledge Transfer”.

Professor Westkamp is a member of the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute.

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