Tanya Aplin

Professor of Intellectual Property at King's College London

Trainer

Tanya is a Professor of Intellectual Property Law, having joined the School of Law in September 2002 as a Lecturer. She was previously a Lecturer in Law at Robinson College, Cambridge (2000-2002), and a Research Fellow at Murdoch University (1997-1999). Professor Aplin graduated from Murdoch University, Western Australia with LLB and BA degrees (1994) and from the University of Oxford with a BCL (1997) and D Phil (2002). From February - August 2006 she was a visiting scholar at Boalt School of Law, UCB and presently is a visiting lecturer on law programmes offered by the IP Academy Singapore, National University of Singapore and Pepperdine University. Professor Aplin is also Director of the King’s Postgraduate Diploma/MA in UK, EC and US Copyright Law.

Research

Professor Aplin’s research lies in the field of intellectual property law. She has written extensively on how digital technologies are regulated by copyright law at an international, European and national level (particularly in the UK and Australia) and much of this work is reflected in her monograph, Copyright Law in the Digital Society (Hart: 2005). Her current research relates to the evolution of the action for breach of confidence. In particular, she is concerned with how privacy-based decisions in this area are affecting the shape of the action as a whole, and not just in the realm of personal information. This research has been published in the Intellectual Property Quarterly, European Intellectual Property Review, King’s Law Journal and Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal and will also form part of a second edition of the text Gurry on Confidence (Clarendon Press, 1984), which she is co-authoring with Professor Lionel Bently and Mr Simon Malynicz. Professor Aplin is also working (with Dr Jennifer Davis) on a Cases and Materials textbook on Intellectual Property Law, to be published by OUP.

Selection of publications:

Breach of confidence/privacy

• ‘A right of privacy for corporations?’ in Torremans, P (ed), Intellectual Property & Human Rights (Kluwer, 2008), pp. 475-505.
• ‘The Future Of Breach Of Confidence And The Protection Of Privacy’ (2007) 7(2) Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal pp. 137-173
• ‘Commercial Confidences After The Human Rights Act’ (2007) 10 European Intellectual Property Review pp. 411-419.
• ‘The Relationship Between Breach Of Confidence And The Tort Of Misuse Of Private Information’ (2007) 18(2) King’s Law Journal pp. 329-336.
• ‘The Development Of The Action For Breach Of Confidence In A Post-HRA Era’ (2007) Intellectual Property Quarterly pp. 19-59.

Intellectual property law and new technologies

• ‘Subject matter’ in Derclaye, E (ed), Research Handbook on the Future of EU Copyright Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2009), pp. 49-76.
• ‘Patenting of computer programs: a glimmer of convergence’ (2008) 9 EIPR pp. 379-382.
• Encyclopaedia of IT Law, chapter on Intellectual Property (Sweet & Maxwell, 2008).
• Copyright law in the digital society: the challenges of multimedia (Hart: 2005).
• ‘The ECJ elucidates the database right’ (2005) Intellectual Property Quarterly pp. 204-221.
• ‘The EU Database Directive: Taking Stock’ in New Directions in Copyright, Volume 2, September 2005, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 99-126.