Professor Kathy Bowrey
Doctor of Juridical Studies (SJD), University of Sydney 1994. Dissertation Title: Don't Fence Me In. The Many Histories of Copyright.
BA LLB Macquarie University 1988; Admitted as a Solicitor, Supreme Court of NSW, 1989.
Dr Kathy Bowrey FASSA is a Professor in the Faculty of Law, UNSW, Sydney. Her research explores laws and practices that inform knowledge creation and the production, distribution and reception of technology and culture. Her primary expertise relates to intellectual property, information technology regulation, regulatory theory, media practice, business history, feminist scholarship and a concern for Indigenous rights. She has a strong interest in Open Research and research management. She has acted as a Consultant to the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD) concerning research assessment exercises in law. She was a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts (2018-2021).
She was lead CI onARCDP200110578, 'Producing, Managing and Owning Knowledge in the 21st Century University’ (Prof Kathy Bowrey, UNSW), Em Prof Tom Cochrane (QUT), Dr Marie Hadley (UoN ), Em Prof Jill McKeough (UTS), Dr Kylie Pappalardo (QUT), Professor Irene Watson ( UniSA), Prof Kimberlee Weatherall (Sydney). This project mapped the Australian research policy terrain,with an eye toward harmonization and coherence to better advance public goals by improving open research and with a view to enhancing Australian research impact and engagement. Further information can be found The project led to an Academy of Social Sciences Roundtable, , held in Canberra June 2024.
Professor Bowrey is a foundation memberof the established in 2008 and served as Co-Director in 2019-2023. This organisation sprang from international interest across law, humanities and the sciences to foster intellectual property research and better communication across national and disciplinary boundaries. She was a Visiting Scholar at the (2021-22) and was a Research Fellow at the (2021), Australia.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2019 - 2022 Prof KathyBowrey; Prof Kimberlee Weatherall; Dr Kylie Pappalardo; Prof Irene Watson; Prof Jill McKeough; Em/Prof Thomas Cochrane,Australian Research Council Discovery Project GrantDP200101578Producing, managing and owning knowledge in the 21st century university
2014 - 2016 Prof Kathy Bowrey, Dr Catherine Bond, Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant DP140100172, Australian Made: A History of Australian Copyright Law and Creator Success 1868-1968
2009 - 2011Prof Kathy Bowrey, Mr Michael Handler, Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant DP 0985948, Entertainment Rights in the Age of the Franchise: A reappraisal of personality rights under Australian Intellectual Property Laws
2011 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada- Partnership Development Grant. Partners: IP Osgoode, Canadian IP Office, Copyright Board of Canada, Canadian Heritage,IBM Inc, Ontario Centre for Excellence, Codex- Stanford Centre for Legal Informatics, UNSW Faculty of Law, Drake University Law School, Law, Business, Entrepreneurship program University of Washington Law School of Law. Triggering Innovation: Transnational Partnership for the Mobilization of Intellectual Property Policy and Practices.
2011 Scientific Participant, Exploratory Workshop, International Trade in Indigenous Cultural Heritage, International Communications and Art Law, University of Lucerne, 2011.
2006 - 2008 Core Participant, Arts and Humanities Council Research Network: New Directions on Copyright, Birkbeck College, University of London, 2006-2008.
2005 - 2007 Prof GW Greenleaf; Prof MD Pendleton; Dr K Bowrey; Dr M Rimmer; Mr BC Mercurio; Prof BF Fitzgerald; Prof JP McKeough; Prof P Griffith; Mr P Chung; Prof J Dalziel;Mr I Oi; Mr PM Crisp, Australian Research Council Linkage Project (2005-2007) Unlocking IP - Expanding public rights and the public domain in Australian copyright (LP0562485).
(Routledge, 2021)
Winner 2022 ANZLHS Book Prize; Honourable Mention, Penny Pether Book Prize, Law, Literature & Humanities Association of Australasia 2021.
Research Fellow, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Australia, 2021.
Visiting Scholar, State Library of NSW, 2021.
Herchel Smith Visitor, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law/Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 2016.
Research Visitor, Faculty of Law, Kent University, 2015.
Professor Bowrey is the author of two recent monographs.
(Routledge, 2021)address big questions about how copyright generated income and how distributions of profits were allocated in the publishing, film and music industries across the 20th century. Authors and artistsdiscussed include Hugh Conway, Fergus Hume, Arthur Conan Doyle, Hall Caine, Dame Nellie Melba, Margaret Atwood, Radiohead and Banksy. The commentaryincludes discussion of the creation of new formats, the interplay between old media and new technologies, the rise of Hollywood and the implications for playwrights, international copyright reform and cross-industry relations.
, co-authored with (Cambridge University Press, 2023),traces the commercial empires that have grown up around Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit, Meccano, Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Eagle Magazine, Davy Crockett, Mr Men, Dr Who, The Magic Roundabout and the Wombles, amongst many others. We consider law as a creative force, an enabler of business, showing how playful conduct came to be overlaid with reference to authorised and unauthorised activity and rights were imagined and reimagined to create the most distinctive features of intellectual property: merchandising and licensing.
Other recent research projects include:
- David Unaiponand the culture of invention.How did Unaipon exercise his intellectual property rights at a time when there were so few local role models for intellectual property commercialization? How were his efforts impacted by his status as an Aboriginal Australian given the restrictions in civil and political rights in this period? This project is supported by an appointment as a Visiting Scholar (2021) andResearch Fellow at the, Australia.
- Festschrift in Honour of Professor Jill McKeough.Feminist Perspectives on Law, Law Schools and Law Reform: Intellectual Property & Beyond (Federation Press, 2021).
- Producing, managing and owning knowledge in the 21st century university (2019-2022).(ARC DP200101578): Lead CI Bowrey; Prof Kimberlee Weatherall; Dr Kylie Pappalardo; Prof Irene Watson; Prof Jill McKeough; Em/Prof Thomas Cochrane. The use, creation and dissemination of the products of research is a core function of Australian universities, and critical if research is to have impact in the real world. It is regulated by intellectual property laws, sector-wide grant conditions, licensing agreements with libraries and university policies on intellectual property ownership, authorship, open access and engagement. International law and practice creates another layer of regulation. Navigating this terrain is the responsibility of every academic and manager, but it is a complex, incoherent framework. Mapping it with an eye toward harmonization and coherence will better advance public goals, in particular improve access to research for impact and engagement.
My Research Supervision
Jeremy Thorpe, An Empirical View of Copyright Litigation in Australia