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Başak Bak

Basak Bak
Lecturer in Law

Building location

Foxhill House, 2.07

Areas of interest

My research interests fall within the broad field of Digital Law. Specifically, I am fascinated by:

  • Data protection and privacy law, especially data processing activity and cross-border data transfers
  • Genomic data, big health data and wearable IoT devices
  • Copyright law and AI
  • Medical law, especially consent to medical treatment and scientific research 
  • Internet intermediaries and AI
I welcome expressions of interest for prospective students in these areas of interest.

Teaching

Currently teaches the following LLB modules:

  • Intellectual Property Law
  • Public Law II
  • Legal Skills
  • Medical Law

Also teaches the following LLM modules:

  • Intellectual Property Law: Copyright and Designs
  • Internet Law
  • Data Protection and Privacy Law

Research centres and groups

Background

I am an experienced academic, having worked as a law lecturer for ten years at Ankara University, and as an assistant professor of law for two years at Izmir University of Economics. Prior to this, I was a paralegal in a top-tier international law firm in Istanbul. I had also been an active member of the Istanbul Bar Association, practicing as a legal consultant specialising in intellectual property law, law of contracts and consumer protection.
 
Following my LLB studies, I successfully obtained my LLM degree on land law (immovable property and landlord’s hypothec) at Ankara University in 2010, followed by my PhD degree (summa cum laude) on intellectual property law in 2015. While I was studying for my PhD degree, I was a visiting scholar at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen for two terms (fully funded), as my doctoral thesis was mainly influenced by the German approach to copyright law. After being awarded my doctoral thesis (without corrections), I obtained a master’s degree on UK and US copyright law at King’s College London in order to develop my expertise in the common law world. In 2017, I was awarded a grant of £29,000 by the British Council within the framework of the prestigious Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop Grant to organise an international intellectual property law event based on a proposal I developed. This was impressively the first project awarded in the field of law.
 
At present, I am working as a lecturer in law at the University of Reading and also doing my second PhD on data protection law and genetic privacy, an area of increasing importance, yet underexplored. I have a track record of publications (in Turkish and English) in intellectual property law, law of contracts and legal aspects of artificial intelligence, and I am now publishing more widely on the aspects of copyright law and data protection law.

I am a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). I am a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E). I am also an Advance HE Fellow (D2). I recently received a prestigious Modern Law Review Scholarship (2021-2022) for my current doctoral research on genetic data privacy and big health data.

Academic qualifications

PhD (University of Reading), MA (King’s College), PgDiploma (King’s College), PhD (Ankara University), LLM (Ankara University), LLB (Ankara University) Barrister (Istanbul Bar Association), CIPP/E, CIPM, FHEA

Awards and honours

Modern Law Review (2020-2021): £5,000 

British Council (2017-2018): £29,000 

Professional bodies/affiliations

International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)

Websites/blogs

www.basakbak.com

Selected publications

  • Basak Bak & Rebecca Nocella, 'Introducing the Elephant in the Room: The Copyrightability of Adult Content Creations in the UK', Sexuality Studies Association Conference 2022, 20 May 2022
  • Basak Bak (2022) Book review: Simon Stokes, `Art and Copyright`, 27 Communications Law 3, pp. 153-155. 
  • Bak, Basak, “Artificial Intelligence” in Futurist Law, Aristo, Istanbul, 2018, (ISBN: 9786052332382). 
  • Bak, Basak, "The Right-of-Way under Electronic Communications Law as a Special Kind of Personal Servitude", AUHFD, Vol. 67/4, 2018. 
  • Bak, Basak, "The Legal Status of Artificial Intelligence with Regard to Civil Law and the Liability Thereof", TAAD, Vol. 35, 2018, pp. 211-232, (ISSN: 13096826). 
  • Bak, Basak, "Enforcement and Implementation of Provisions Concerning Suretyship and Standard Business Terms in the New Turkish Code of Obligations Numbered 6098", Law &Justice Review, Vol. 16, 2018, pp. 21 – 33, (ISSN:1309-9485). 
  • Bak, Basak, "A Review on Divergent Approaches Concerning Moral Rights of Authors in Continental European and Anglo-Saxon Legal Systems", Terazi, V. 140, Nisan 2018, pp. 14 – 23, (ISSN: 1306-9802). 
  • Bak, Basak, "Knowledge of Cuisine: Intellectual Property Protection in the Turkish Food Sector", Research Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 4/2, July 2017, pp. 141 – 147, (ISSN 2148- 6689). 
  • Bak, Basak, “The Right of Withdrawal in Distance Contracts under Law on Consumer Protection Numbered 6502”, Law & Justice Review, Vol. 11, 29 February 2016, pp. 129 – 143, (ISSN 1309-9485).
  • Bak, Basak, The Right of Withdrawal in Copyright Contracts, Turhan, Ankara, 2016, (ISBN: 9786053130246).
  • Bak, Basak, “Patentability under Turkish Patent Law According to the Decree Law No. 551 on the Protection of Patent Rights”, Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 195, 3 July 2015. 
  • Bak, Basak, "The New Provisions and A Review Regarding Publishing Agreement Prescribed by the Turkish Code of Obligations Numbered 6098”, TBBD, Vol. 25/101, 2012, (ISSN 1304-2408). 
  • Bak, Basak, “Compulsory Patent Licensing for Pharmaceuticals”, Ankara Barosu Dergisi, Vol. 69/3, 2011, (ISSN: 13009885). 
  • Bak, Basak, "Stock Market Option Contracts", AUSBF, V. 64/4, 2009, (ISSN 1309-1034). 

Publications

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