The Institute for Information Law is part of the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law. The Institute is the largest research facility in the field of information law in Europe. The Institute employs over 20 qualified researchers who actively study and report on a wide range of subjects within the domain of information law. The activities of the Institute include:

- research and promotion of research in the field of information law;
- mediation and undertaking of research projects commissioned by third parties, carried out by the Institute's staff members or by free-lance researchers;
- training of research assistants;
- practical training (post-graduate courses, professional training, seminars);
- maintenance of a specialised Documentation Centre for research and legal practice in the field of information law.

The Institute works closely together with other departments of the University of Amsterdam, such as the Europa Institute and the Department of Communications Studies. Moreover, the Institute collaborates with researchers from the Delft University of Technology, the Seminary for Media Law of the State University of Ghent, Belgium, the Institut de l'Audiovisuel et des Télécommunications en Europe (idate) in Montpellier, France and the Centre de Recherches Informatique et Droit (crid) in Namur, Belgium. Individual members of the Institute maintain worldwide contacts with qualified researchers in their own specialised fields.

Since 1994 the Institute is an official partner of the European Audiovisual Observatory in Strasbourg. Operating within the framework of the Council of Europe, the Observatory acts as an information and reference centre for professionals in the audiovisual industry throughout Europe. As a partner of the Observatory the Institute collects materials and data on important current issues of audiovisual law, provides input for its monthly law review iris and collaborates with the Observatory in various other ways.

2. Working Programme

The Institute's working programme concentrates on the following main themes of research:

Theoretics of Information Law

This theme focuses on the development of information law into a separate field of law. In this context the relation to other fields of law and to other disciplines is analysed; new definitions and concepts are conceived. Problems of comparative and international law and the relationship between technology and law are also studied in order to provide a conceptual framework for the study of problems in the other fields of research.

Freedom of Expression and Media Law

This theme comprises the constitutional foundations of the freedom of expression and information (freedom of expression, freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services) and the restrictions imposed thereon in relation to traditional and modern media. In addition, the rights of information receivers and the obligations of the authorities in this respect, as well as the position of social institutions in this field, are studied. Topics of research include: regulation of public and commercial broadcasting, concentration and competition in the print industry, theatrical freedoms, liberalisation of the cable industry and the impact of European law.

Intellectual Property

The different methods of protecting information as a property right under private law (intellectual property, competition law, law of contracts) and public law (secrecy, telecommunications law) are studied. Special consideration is given to the relation between property rights in information and the freedom of expression and information. Topics of research include: copyright protection of ideas and works of fact, patent protection of non-technical inventions, the future of intellectual property in the digital networked environment, etcetera.

Advertising and Consumer Information

This theme covers various legal problems caused by manipulative forms of mass communication for commercial and non-commercial purposes (publicity, public relations, propaganda, information supply, labelling, surreptitious advertising, sponsoring, etcetera). Topics of research include: advertising and freedom of expression, selfregulation of advertising, transborder advertising, food labelling, and editorial freedoms.

Telecommunications Law

This theme comprises a wide array of legal problems relating to the organisation, control and exploitation of telecommunications infrastructures and services. Topics of interest include: convergence and divergence, liberalisation and reregulation, regulation of cable networks, standardization, frequency management, aspects of European law, etcetera.

Privacy and Data Protection

In this context the legal protection of private life (the right to privacy) and especially the protection of personal data in the public and private sectors are studied. Main topics are: governmental policies regarding information systems, commercialisation of personal data, and selfregulation.

Access to Government Controlled Information

This theme focuses on the legal problems relating to the use and supply of information held by public authorities. Topics include: freedom of information, commercial use of government data, public private partnerships, propaganda, etcetera.

Current Developments in Information Law

In addition to research carried out in the context of the eight main themes of research, current developments in information law are systematically analysed and commented upon.

3. Organization and Staff

The Institute is supervised by the Institute Board. Members of the Board are:

Prof. Jaap W. Zwemmer (Dean, Facultaty of Law, University of Amsterdam)
Prof. Ted M. de Boer (Professor of International Private Law and Comparative Law, University of Amsterdam);
Prof. Herman Cohen Jehoram (Professor of Intellectual Property, Media and Information Law, University of Amsterdam);
Prof. Paul T. van der Heijden (Professor of Labour Law, University of Amsterdam);
Prof. Eric C.M. Jurgens (Professor of Constitutional Law, Free University of Amsterdam, and Member of Parliament);
Prof. Jan M. de Meij (Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Amsterdam).

The Institute is managed by the Institute Board of Directors. Board members are:

Prof. Egbert J. Dommering (Professor of Information Law and Director of the Institute);
Prof. Jan J.C. Kabel;
Prof. Gerard A.I. Schuijt;
Dr P. Bernt Hugenholtz;
Dr Nico A.N.M. van Eijk.

In 1996 the research fellows of the Institute were:

Documentation Centre:

4. Publications

The Institute for Information Law was established in 1987. Since then its staff members have published numerous publications that are listed in its annual reports. A copy of the complete listings is available upon request.

Under the editorial responsibility of the Institute for Information Law, Kluwer Law International publishes the Information Law Series. Prof. Dommering and Dr Hugenholtz act as joint editors-in-chief. The following volumes were published in this series:

* Dommering, Egbert J. & P. Bernt Hugenholtz (eds.), Protecting Works of Fact. Copyright, Freedom of Expression and Information Law, Deventer/Boston: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1991, 110 p.

* Korthals Altes W.F., Dommering E.J., Hugenholtz P.B. and Kabel J.J.C. (eds.), Information Law towards the 21st Century, Deventer/Boston: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1992, 393 p.

* Seignette, Jacqueline M.B., Challenges to the creator doctrine. Authorship, copyright ownership and the exploitation of creative works in The Netherlands, Germany and The United States, Deventer/Boston: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers, 1994, 200 p.

* Hugenholtz, P. Bernt (ed.), The Future of Copyright in a Digital Environment, proceedings of the Royal Academy Colloquium, The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1996, 248 p.

* Pinckaers, Julius C.S., From Privacy Toward a New Intellectual Property Right in Persona. The Right of Publicity (United States) and Portrait Law (Netherlands) Balanced with Freedom of Speech and Free Trade Principles, The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1996, 490 p.

Selected publications in 1996

The following is a selection of the most important publications by the Institute or its staff members in 1996.

On 22 March 1996 Lucien Wopereis publicly defended his doctoral thesis on the fundaments and borderlines of government information (De grondslagen en grenzen van overheidsvoorlichting). Prof. De Meij acted as promotor. Wopereis' study was published by Sdu Uitgevers.

On 6 December 1996 Julius Pinckaers publicly defended his doctoral thesis From Privacy Toward a New Intellectual Property Right in Persona. The Right of Publicity (United States) and Portrait Law (Netherlands) Balanced with Freedom of Speech and Free Trade Principles. In his study Dr Pinckaers argues for the creation of a novel intellectual property right in the 'persona', i.e. identity of a human being. Professors Cohen Jehoram, McCarthy (University of San Francisco) and Schuijt acted as joint promotors. Dr Pinckaers' dissertation was published by Kluwer Law International in the Information Law Series.

Several other ongoing doctoral studies are expected to be completed in the course of 1997, including Jaap Haeck's study on copyright protection of ideas, and Madeleine de Cock Buning's study on the impact of information technology on copyright law. Other doctoral studies (on the regulation of information on food stuffs, electromagnetic spectrum auctions, the right of rectification, and criminal liability for Internet service providers) are underway.

Prof. Dommering analysed the social and legal consequences of the networked environment of the Internet, in a study commissioned by the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid). Dommering's study was published in Computerrecht.

A study on libel, slander, discrimination and pornography on the Internet by Prof. Schuijt, Prof. De Roos and Louisa Wissink (Smaad, laster, discriminatie en porno op het Internet), funded by the national programme on information technology and the law ITeR, was published in the ITeR series. Two other ITeR funded studies on the duration of telecommunications licenses (De eeuwigdurende telecom-licentie) by Dr Hins, and spectrum auctions (Veilen van frequenties) by Maartje Verberne, Dr Van Eijk and Prof. Dommering respectively, were also published in this series.

Prof. De Meij completed the second edition of his important treatise on freedom of expression (Uitingsvrijheid. De vrije informatiestroom in grondwettelijk perspectief).

Prof. Cohen Jehoram was co-editor (with Petra Keuchenius and Lisa M. Brownlee) of Trade-Related Aspects of Copyright (Deventer: Kluwer 1996), a book containing the proceedings of an international conference held in Amsterdam. Prof. Cohen Jehoram's contributions to International Copright Law and Practice (Paul Geller, ed.) were updated.

Dr Hugenholtz contributed a 'Chronicle of The Netherlands. Dutch copyright law 1990-1995' to the Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur (Vol. 169, July 1996). Prof. Dommering and Dr van Eijk published an updated English language version of their Agenda for the public discussion on telecommunications, an inventory of the most pressing legal and political issues in the field of telecommunications, commissioned by the Rathenau Institute. The Agenda was published in Fundamental Rights and New Information Technologies in the Audiovisual Sector (EMR 1996, p.57-82). The entire Institute collaborated in compiling a case book on media and information law, which was published by Ars Aequi Libri.

Prof. Kabel acted as editor of the Praktijkboek Reclamerecht, a loose-leaf handbook on advertising law widely used by lawyers and practioners. He also wrote various articles on the commercialisation of government information, and the freedom of commercial speech. Prof. Kabel collaborated with Mireille van Eechoud on two studies on access to geographical information, commissioned by the Dutch and European organisations on geographical information (RAVI and EUROGI respectively).

Dr Hugenholtz and Jaap Haeck acted as chairman and secretary of the Portrait Law Committee of the Dutch Society of Media and Communications Law. The Committee's report, published in November 1996 in Mediaforum, advocates new legislation to ensure the transferability of portrait rights.

5. Educational activities

Each year, the Institute provides a bouquet of five optional, trimestrial courses to students of the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam: information law, copyright, industrial property, and European intellectual property and competition law. In 1996 a total of 260 students participated in these courses. In addition, Institute staff collectively offered a popular course on media law to students of communications studies.

With the financial aid of the national programme on information technology and the law ITeR, the Institute succesfully introduced an innovative, multidisciplinary course on telecommunication law. Selected students from various backgrounds (law, technology, economics, communications studies) participated. Patrick Burger organised the course and prepared a special 1000-page syllabus.

Four post-academic courses were organised in 1996; the topics were 'Liability on the information highway', 'Recent developments in media law', 'Advertising for food stuffs, pharmaceutical and health products', and 'Media law for the judiciary'.

6. Other important activities in 1996

Since its inception the Institute for Information Law has organised three very successful international conferences: Copyright in information (1989), Information Law towards the 21st Century (1991), and The future of copyright in a digital environment (1995). The proceedings were published in the Information Law Series, mentioned before.

In addition, the Institute organises bimonthly invitation-only guest lectures. In 1996 lecturers included prof. Herbert Burkert of the Geselschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung in Sankt Augustin (Germany), who spoke on the Commercialization of Public Sector Information from a German Public Law Perspective. Dr David Goldberg (School of Law, University of Glascow) gave a talk on Transnational Regulation of Objectional Speech. Dr Niva Elkin-Koren (University of Haifa) spoke on Copyright Policy - Freedom of Contract. Dr Roberto Mastroianni (University of Florence, faculty of Law) was a visiting scholar at the Institute, and spoke on the Regulation of Commercial Broadcasting in Italy and Europe.

Through different personal unions, the Institute for Information Law is involved in the editing and publication of two leading legal reviews: Informatierecht/AMI (on copyright, media and information law) and Mediaforum (on media and telecommunications policy and law). In addition, Institute staff regularly contribute to IRIS, the monthly newsletter of the European Audiovisual Observatory. In 1996 Marcel Dellebeke represented the Institute on the IRIS editorial board.

Institute staff members serve on various international boards and committees in the field of information law. Prof. Cohen Jehoram is vice-chairman of the international copyright society ALAI, and member of the Copyright Experts Group of the European Commission, dg xv. He is also a member of the Board and Scientific Council of the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Patent-, Urheber- und Wettbewerbs-recht in Munich. Dr Hugenholtz is chairman of the Intellectual Property Task Force and member of the Legal Advisory Board (LAB) of the European Commission, dg xiii. In this capacity he drafted a LAB reply to the European Commission's Green Paper on Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society.

Due to a severe illness prof. Cohen Jehoram could not participate in the very succesful ALAI Study Days on Copyright in Cyberspace, that were held at his initiative in Amsterdam from 4 to 8 June. Dr Hugenholtz acted as the Dutch national rapporteur on database protection. The proceedings of the Study Days, compiled and edited by Marcel Dellebeke, were published in March 1997 by Otto Cramwinckel, Amsterdam.

On 25 October a workshop on Commercialisation of Government Information was organised by the Institute under the auspices of the European Umbrella Organisation for Geo Information. Experts from various parts of Europe were invited to participate; Prof. Kabel acted as chairman.

On 26 November a mini-seminar was held to honour a Russian delegation from the International Information Academy, visiting the Institute in the framework of the EU Tedis Programme.

Dr Hugenholtz was an invited speaker or panellist at a large number of international conferences, mostly on copyright and the Internet. Highlights were the WIPO China National Seminar on the Impact of Digital Technology on Copyright Protection, which was held in Beijing from 5 to 8 May, and the international conference on Copyright and Related Rights on the Threshold of the 21st Century, organised by the European Commission, dg xv, in Florence from 2 to 4 June. No fewer than four Institute staff members (Dommering, Van Eijk, Hins and Hugenholtz) spoke at the Congreso Europeo Sobre Derecho Audiovisual held in Seville from 23 to 26 October.

7. Documentation Centre

The Institute maintains a sophisticated and well-equipped Documentation Centre, which has been set up with generous funding by the Dutch Ministry of Education. The Documentation Centre specialises in (often hard-to-find) international periodicals in the field of information law, and unpublished reports. The Centre also operates an electronic data base containing bibliographic information on publications in the domain of information law. In addition, the Documentation Centre publishes a current awareness periodical, which is distributed among the Institute staff and subscribers.

Updated 15.12.2005