Prof. Dr. Thomas MARGONI

Research Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology, KU Leuven, where he is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP). Thomas’ research concentrates on the relationship between law and technology, with a focus on comparative and European copyright law. Currently, he is exploring the transformations occurring in the creation, access, and distribution of information brought by technologies like the Internet, data and AI. Examples of relevant research projects include the Data Spaces Support Centre a Digital Europe funded project dedicated to explore current data space initiatives, define common requirements and establish best practices, where Thomas is KUL’s PI for the legal contribution; reCreating Europe, the EU H2020 project developing an integrated policy approach to copyright in the EU digital single market, where Thomas leads the task on AI and data ownership; Skills4EOSC the Horizon Europe project aimed to accelerate the upskilling of European researchers and data professionals in the field of Open Science; DAFNE+ the Horizon Europe project dedicated to the use of blockchain technologies to define novel revenue and business models for the cultural and creative industries; ZOOOM the Horizon Europe project focusing on awareness raising in the field of IP generation and management in collaborative innovation ecosystems, among others (for a full list see link below). Other areas of interest where Thomas has developed institutional as well as funded research include the processes of EU copyright and design law harmonisation; Data ownership and AI; Copyright, design rights and additive manufacturing; The digitisation of cultural heritage and the digital public domain; Open access and open science; Online intermediaries, fundamental rights and the platform economy; and the role of property rights in sports.