Intellectual Property and Privacy Law

Abstract

This chapter explores the intersections between intellectual property (IP) and privacy law. It notes that while the scope of what we may consider to be ‘intellectual property’ continues to expand to cover new creative and innovative practices, so too the meaning and scope of what we may consider to be ‘privacy’—traditionally understood as allowing the individual to enjoy a private sphere free from the public gaze—has come under pressure to expand to address new situations where loss of control over personal information and incursions on personal identity are seen to undermine human dignity and liberty. Thus ‘privacy’ and ‘intellectual property’ become ever more imbricated in our modern digital world, and we can expect to see ever more interchange between the laws that regulate these domains.