Anthony Rosborough

This is a pixelated image of Anthony D. Rosborough, an intellectual property lawyer and doctoral researcher in law at the European University Institute.

law | technology

I am an intellectual property lawyer and doctoral researcher in law at the European University Institute. My research interests concentrate on the relationship between IP laws, embedded computer systems, Human-Computer Interaction, and personal property rights.

I am particularly interested in the way that software, computerisation and new technologies are being used to create new concepts of ownership and access in an increasingly automated world. Much of my work has been focused on the extent to which IP rights (when combined with technological design) have undermined the personal agency and fundamental rights of users.

My doctoral thesis investigates the role of software technological protection measures (often referred to as “digital locks”) in enabling the transformation of products into services, remote data collection by manufacturers, and firmware restrictions which act to hinder interoperability, innovation, and repair. The thesis project investigates the rationale, design, implementation, and effects of software technological protection measures across the automotive, consumer electronics, and agricultural equipment industries.

recent refereed works

  1. Anthony D. Rosborough, “Toward a Canadian Right to Repair: Opportunities and Challenges” (2023) Berkeley Technology Law Journal (forthcoming) [Preprint on SSRN].
  2. Anthony D. Rosborough, “Zen and the Art of Repair Manuals: Enabling a Participatory Right to Repair Through an Autonomous Concept of EU Copyright Law” (2022) 13(2) JIPITEC 113-131.[JIPITEC].
  3. Anthony D. Rosborough and Reagan Seidler, “Intangible Justice? Intellectual Property Disputes and Canadian Small Claims Courts” (2022) 47(2) Queens Law Journal 1-29 [SSRN].
  4. Anthony D. Rosborough, “If a Machine Could Talk, We Would Not Understand It: Canadian Innovation and the Copyright Act’s TPM Interoperability Framework”, (2021) 19 J L & Tech 141-171 [SSRN].
  5. Anthony D. Rosborough, “Unscrewing the Future: The Right to Repair and Circumvention of Software TPMs in the EU” (2020) 11:1 JIPITEC 26-48 [SSRN].
  6. Lucie Guibault & Anthony D. Rosborough, “Copyright in the Public Interest: Canada’s Perceptual Disability Framework”, in Jani McCutcheon and Ana Ramalho (eds), International Perspectives on Disability Exceptions in Copyright Law and the Visual Arts, (Routledge, 2020).

presentations | speaking | interviews

  1. 2023-03-09: Contributing speaker (with Professor Aaron Perzanowski), “The Intellectual Property Implications of the Right to Repair”, LTEC Lab, Windsor Law.
  2. 2023-03-08: Witness, Standing Committee on Science and Technology (INDU), Bill C-294, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act (interoperability), Parliament of Canada.
  3. 2023-03-02: Guest lecture, “The Right to Repair”, LAWS 2028: Copyright Law, The Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.
  4. 2023-02-22: Guest lecture, “The Right to Repair”, Intellectual Property Law, The University of Glasgow School of Law.
  5. 2023-02-20: Guest lecture & seminar, CopyrightX: Fair Use & Misuse, The University of Glasgow School of Law.
  6. 2023-02-08: Witness, Standing Committee on Science and Technology (INDU), Bill C-244, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair), Parliament of Canada.
  7. 2023-01-26: Webinar panelist, “The Right to Repair”, The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).
  8. 2022-11-21: Webinar contributor, “The Debate over Right to Repair in Agriculture: What role for provincial government?“, Canada West Foundation Webinar.
  9. 2022-11-17: Conference panelist, “The Right To Repair, Intellectual Property, and Software” European Consumer Day 2022: Empowering consumers for a more sustainable world, European Economic and Social Committee (Brussels, Belgium)
  10. 2022-10-31: Conference panelist, “Zen and the Art of Repair Manuals: Enabling a Participatory Right to Repair Through an Autonomous Concept of EU Copyright Law”, Rethinking Copyright Flexibilities (ReCreating EU) (University of Cyprus)
  11. 2022-09-20: Guest speaker, “The Right to Repair”, Law & Technology Virtual Speaker Series, The Law & Technology Institute at the Schulich School of Law (Dalhousie University).
  12. 2022-09-14: Webinar speaker, “Repair and copyright: Overcoming the invisible barriers to repair“, Hosted by the European Environmental Bureau & Repair.eu.
  13. 2022-06-30: Conference panelist, “Green Tech Talk: New Digital Economy for Workers, Consumers & The Environment”, The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament.
  14. 2022-04-13: Conference panelist, “Repair in the International Context”, UC Berkeley Repair Symposium – 26th Annual BCLT/BTLJ Symposium, “The Emergent Right to Repair“.
  15. 2022-03-23: Guest speaker, “Right to Repair” Bande Pensante BandWit Webcast [Online/Streaming].
  16. 2021-12-19: Presentation, “Repair Manuals and EU Copyright Law”, CREATe Morning Coffee Series, University of Glagsow.
  17. 2021-10-08: Conference Presentation, “Are TPMs Ownership Rights?”, Are We Owned? A Multidisciplinary and Comparative Conversation on Intellectual Property in the Algorithmic Society, University of Stirling.
  18. 2021-10-01: Conference Presentation, “The Right to Repair”, ALAI Study Days (Copyright, Competition and Innovation), Madrid, Spain.
  19. 2021-09-07: Conference Presentation, “Zen and the Art of Repair Information: Copyright, the Right to Repair, and the EU’s Circular Economy”, European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP 2021), Madrid, Spain.
  20. 2021-09-02: Conference Co-Host with Professor Alissa Centivany (Western University), “Fixing Digital Locks”, Big Data at the Margins Lecture Series, featuring guest speakers Professor Michael Geist, Kyle Wiens (iFixit) and Dr. Tarek Loubani, online.

other contributions

  1. Anthony D. Rosborough, “The InfoSoc Directive and the Right to Repair: exploring the boundaries of a lesser-known copyright exception” (14 December 2022) online: Kluwer Copyright Blog <http://copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2022/12/14/the-infosoc-directive-and-the-right-to-repair-exploring-the-boundaries-of-a-lesser-known-copyright-exception>.
  2. Pascale Chapdelaine & Anthony D. Rosborough et al., “A Modern Copyright Framework for the Internet of Things (IoT): Intellectual Property Scholars’ Joint Submission to the Canadian Government Consultation” (24 June 2021) [SSRN].
  3. Anthony D. Rosborough, “A Canadian Right to Repair bill sees 330-0 vote, as measure clears key hurdle” (3 June 2021) online: Repair.org <https://www.repair.org/blog/2021/6/3/a-canadian-right-to-repair-bill-sees-330-0-vote-as-measure-clears-key-hurdle>.
  4. Anthony D. Rosborough, “Canada needs right-to-repair legislation” (14 May 2021) online: Policy Options <https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2021/canada-needs-right-to-repair-legislation/>
  5. Anthony D. Rosborough, “Science Fiction and AI: Lawmaking lessons from the mythical origins of copyright law” (5 May 2021) online: EUIdeas <https://euideas.eui.eu/2021/05/05/science-fiction-and-ai-lawmaking-lessons-from-the-mythical-origins-of-copyright-law/>.
  6. Anthony D. Rosborough & Carlo Dade, “The serious hidden problem facing Canada’s agricultural innovators” (25 February 2021) online: Policy Options <https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/the-serious-hidden-problem-facing-canadas-agricultural-innovators/>.
  7. Anthony D. Rosborough, “The Right to Repair Medical Equipment During a Pandemic”, Nova Voce 38:2 (2020) 28, online: [https://perma.cc/GR23-6KVZ].