Silke von Lewinski

Biography: Silke von Lewinski, doctor at law, is head of the department specialising in international and European copyright law, at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich.

She directed a project at the Institute on intellectual property and indigenous heritage, resulting, among others, in the book publication "Indigenous Heritage and Intellectual Property: Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore" (The Hague, 2nd edn. 2008). She also teaches a course on IP and indigenous heritage at the George Washington University Law School's summer program in Munich at the Munich IP Law Center. She is also Adjunct Professor at the Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, N.H., USA (Master Program), a regular visiting professor at different French universities, and has been invited to teach at many universities worldwide, including Columbia University, N.Y., and Melbourne University. Dr. von Lewinski has been an expert consulting the European Commission in several cases, including on the draft and throughout the legislative process of the EC Rental Rights Directive, and the WIPO Diplomatic Conference 1996 (as member of the EC delegation. At the WIPO Diplomatic Conference 2000 on Audiovisual Performances, she was a delegate for Germany. Dr. von Lewinski has been the chief legal expert consulting the governments of many European and Asian countries on their copyright legislation in the framework of different EC and other technical assistance programs. Latest book publications, beyond the above-mentioned one, are "International Copyright Law and Policy" (OUP, 2008) and (together with Reinbothe) "The WIPO Treaties 1996" (London, 2002).