Welcome back to another week of Bells & Whistles.
As always, we’ve rounded up a mix of developments, opportunities, and thoughtful reads from across the IP world along with a Bell of the Week that’s well worth revisiting.
Bell of the Week: What Does Justice Have to Do With IP?
Some organisations work to change the law. Some work to make the law easier to find, understand or use. And some make us pause and ask a more fundamental question: who is the system actually working for?
That is what caught my attention about the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice (IIPSJ).
The Institute’s starting point is simple, but rather different from how we usually talk about intellectual property. Its mission is to examine IP through the principles of access, inclusion and empowerment, and to ask where the participation of disadvantaged, excluded and marginalised communities may need to be redressed.
We often encounter IP through questions of ownership such as who created something, who owns it, who can use it and who has infringed it. IIPSJ asks us to look at the system from another direction: who gets to participate in it, and who gets to benefit from it?
That question is at the heart of the Institute’s understanding of social justice in IP. It speaks of both procedural and substantive equality. The first is about having a meaningful opportunity to participate in the IP system. The second goes a step further: whether people actually share in the benefits that intellectual property can create.
It is an idea that can be traced back to IIPSJ’s founder, Professor Lateef Mtima. He created the Institute to explore how IP law and policy could be used to promote greater inclusion, equality and empowerment.
What I find particularly interesting is that IIPSJ does not approach social justice as something that sits outside intellectual property. It asks what the IP system looks like when questions of inclusion and equality are part of the conversation from the beginning.
And it has tried to make that conversation a practical one. Its Mosaic IP Law and Policy Roundtable brings together IP scholars, political activists, practising attorneys, community organisers and policymakers to work on what it calls “activist scholarship” and IP empowerment initiatives. Its annual IP & Social Justice CLE Seminar similarly creates a space for judges, practitioners and scholars to discuss the social justice dimensions of IP law.
There are already several organisations working to make IP more transparent, accessible and affordable by opening up legal information, creating pathways to knowledge, questioning barriers to participation, or making a complicated system easier to navigate.
IIPSJ brings another dimension to that work.
It asks us not just whether people can enter the IP system, but whether they can meaningfully participate in it, be heard within it, and share in the benefits it creates.
Some organisations change IP by changing rules. Others change it by opening doors.
IIPSJ reminds us that sometimes, we also need to ask who those doors are open for in the first place.
This week, we ring the bell for the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice for making inclusion, equality and empowerment part of the conversation about what intellectual property is meant to achieve.
EVENTS
1. Book Launch: The Cambridge Handbook of Media Law and Policy in Europe
8 October 2026 | 3:00–5:00 PM CET | Amsterdam & Online
IViR is hosting the launch of The Cambridge Handbook of Media Law and Policy in Europe, edited by M. Senftleben, K. Irion, T. McGonagle and J. Poort, and published by Cambridge University Press in 2026. The handbook examines legal and policy issues arising from the changing media ecosystem, including media freedom and pluralism, platform-based communication, disinformation, and the impact of AI on media and news production, drawing on human rights law, media law and copyright law.
More info
2. Music & IP: Protect Your Creativity and Shape Your Future | EUIPO Academy Virtual Open Day
14 October 2026 | 1:30–3:00 PM IST | Virtual
The EUIPO Academy Virtual Open Day will explore how intellectual property shapes the music journey, covering the fundamentals of IP, real-world insights from a musician, and practical guidance from an IP expert. The session will address how IP can help musicians, producers, songwriters and content creators protect their creativity, build their careers and make informed choices in the digital world.
Register here
3. Lecture on “Policing the Boundaries of Copyright: How Registration Improves the Development of the Copyright System” | PIJIP, American University, Washington, DC
5 November 2026 | 6:00 PM ET | In-person and online
The lecture will examine the role of copyright registration and examination in the development of the copyright system. It will consider the view that registration is a formalistic process that places unnecessary economic and record-keeping burdens on creators and copyright owners, and will explore how the copyright examination process goes beyond simply assessing copyrightability, involving subtle factual and conceptual distinctions relating to the legal and formal requirements of the statute.
More info | Register here
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Call for Papers: HKU-Cornell Asian Legal Studies Workshop
Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 October 2026
The HKU-Cornell Asian Legal Studies Workshop, co-hosted by Professor Xin He (HKU Faculty of Law) and Professor Yun-chien Chang (Cornell Law School), will be held on 21–22 December 2026 at The University of Hong Kong. The workshop invites submissions on Asian jurisdictions, preferably using empirical methods, and will bring together a select group of junior scholars to present work-in-progress in an intensive, feedback-driven environment. Each paper will receive sustained commentary from senior discussants to strengthen the work for publication in leading peer-reviewed journals and law reviews.
More info
2. Laura Bassi Scholarship – Winter 2026
Application Deadline: 15 November 2026 | Results: 4 December 2026
The Laura Bassi Scholarship provides editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarship is open to all disciplines. All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates, as well as academics in the first five years of full-time employment, are eligible to apply. Applicants must submit a completed application form and CV through the application portal by the deadline. A voluntary USD 10 application fee applies to help defray the Scholarship’s administrative costs. First-time applicants who are unable to pay the fee can use the fee waiver option on the application portal. Applicants wishing to pay the fee in a non-USD currency should consult the FAQ for instructions.
More info
3. PhD in Law | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Application Deadline: 3 December 2026 | Overseas full-time students Start Date: 27 September 2027
The LSE PhD in Law is a three- to four-year programme, with a minimum duration of two years. Students work under the supervision of two academics and receive specialised PhD training through the Law Department, the Department of Methodology and the PhD Academy. Students may also attend other LSE courses, subject to the lecturer’s approval.
More info
Shout out to Prof Aakanksha Kumar for giving the lead on HKU-Cornell CFP!
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