Professor Stavroula Karapapa is Dean of Partnerships (Research) and Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Essex. She joined Essex in 2020 from the University of Reading, where she was Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Law and Executive Director of a pan-University, cross-disciplinary academic centre operating as a departmental hub for research, postgraduate education and external engagement (2014-2020). She has also held academic appointments, research fellowships and teaching roles across several leading institutions of the University of London, such as Brunel University (2010-2012) and Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (2020-2021). Before joining academia, she practised as a barrister and legal adviser in the fields of intellectual property, commercial and civil law, working with clients across the public, private and third sectors.

Professor Karapapa writes and teaches on the legal regulation of creativity, innovation and cultural production, with particular attention to the challenges posed by digital technologies to existing legal regimes. Her work spans intellectual property law, with a focus on copyright, digital rights, data protection and related areas of public and private law, examining how legal frameworks govern creative and cultural practices, support innovation and enterprise, mediate technological change and influence the development, protection and commercialisation of knowledge. Her work is distinctive in its socio-legal and comparative outlook and often involves doctrinal analysis and policy insight at the interface of other disciplines. 

 

She has served as expert adviser to major international organisations and public bodies, including WIPO, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the UK Intellectual Property Office. Her contributions have been recognised through a number of awards, and her research has been supported by leading national and international funding organisations.

Professor Karapapa is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Editor-in-Chief of the European Trade Mark Reports (Sweet & Maxwell); Correspondent for Kluwer EU Copyright Cases (Kluwer); adjunct Professor at the University of London (PGLaws) and Greek-qualified Barrister (Athens Bar - non-practising).

Professor Karapapa would welcome research proposals in the areas of Intellectual Property Law, Information Law, Digital Regulation, Media Law, Cultural Heritage, and Data Protection.

 
 
You can find her work on ResearchGate ​and SSRN.