After graduating from Glasgow University I trained as a solicitor with Shepherd+ Wedderburn in Edinburgh. I then spent a year and a half as a qualified solicitor in their Commercial Contracts team, specialising in commercial drafting, IP, IT and data protection issues. In January 2004 I returned to Glasgow University as a teaching assistant, before joining Edinburgh Law School as a lecturer in June 2005.
My teaching and research interests include contract law, commercial law, data protection and IP. I am currently researching the area of personality rights in the UK, focusing on publicity rights for celebrities and private individuals. In particular, my research examines the border between publicity and privacy - can a celebrity commercially exploit publicity while claiming privacy protection? What is the legal basis for protection and promotion of publicity rights? Importantly, should such rights be restricted to celebrities or available to all? My research draws from cases such as Campbell v MGN; Douglas v Hello!; and Irvine v Talksport; as well as empirical and academic work.
In addition to my work on publicity, I am engaged in research in the fields of data protection, e-commerce, consumer protection and contract law. I would welcome PhD applications from students who wish to research publicity, privacy or e-commerce.
Gillian Black 'Exploiting Image: Making a Case for the Legal Regulation of Publicity Rights in the United Kingdom' (2011) European Intellectual Property Review 413
Gillian Black 'Formation of contract: the role of contractual intention and email disclaimers' (2011) Juridical Review 97
Gillian Black 'Publicity and Image Rights in Scots Law' (2010) Edinburgh Law Review 364
Gillian Black 'A New Experience in Contract Damages? Reflections on Experience Hendrix v PPX Enterprises Ltd' (2005) Juridical Review 31
Gillian Black 'The Cult of Celebrity and Trade Marks: the next instalment' (2004) SCRIPT-ed 1:2
Gillian Black 'Data Protection Law in Light of Durant v Financial Services Authority' (2004) Juridical Review 295
Gillian Black 'Office of Fair Trading v MB Designs (Scotland) Limited and Others' in Howells, Geraint; Nordhausen, Annette; Parry, Deborah; Twigg-Flesner, Christian (eds) The Yearbook of Consumer Law 2007 (Ashgate, 2007) Chapter 20, p411
A review of the judgment in this case, which was the first action of its kind in Scotland by the OFT for interim enforcement orders under the Enterprise Act 2002.
Gillian Black 'Gertain Howells, Iain Ramsay and Thomas Wilhelmsson, "Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law"' (2011) Edinburgh Law Review 509
Gillian Black 'Michael Furmston and GJ Tolhurst "Contract Formation: Law and Practice"' (2011) Edinburgh Law Review 507
Gillian Black 'Niall R Whitty and Reinhard Zimmermann (eds) "Rights of Personality in Scots Law: A Comparative Perspective"' (2010) Edinburgh Law Review 541
Gillian Black 'OK! for some: Douglas v Hello! in the House of Lords' (2007) Edinburgh Law Review 402
Gillian Black 'Editorial: "Douglas v Hello! - An OK! Result"' (2007) SCRIPT-ed 4:2 p161
Gillian Black 'Beverley-Smith, Ohly and Lucas-Schloetter: Privacy, Property and Personality: Civil Law Perspectives on Commercial Appropriation' (2007) Modern Law Review Vol 70, pp167 - 170
Gillian Black 'The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005' (2005) Scots Law Times 183
Gillian Black 'Database Rights and Wrongs' (2004) Scots Law Times 147
Papers and Presentations
Gillian Black 'The Dignitarian Rationale for a Right of Publicity' presented at University of Stirling Staff Seminar Series 2011, Stirling, 2011
Gillian Black 'Data Protection and Devolution' presented at ICO Data Protection Officer Conference, Manchester, 2011
Gillian Black 'Superinjunctions - Scotching the myths' presented at Scottish Privacy Forum, Stirling, 2011
Gillian Black 'Beyond Copyright: Contract and Commerce' presented at Can Canada Learn Anything From Europe? European Perspectives on Copyright Law in the Information Era., Ottawa, 2011
Gillian Black 'Asserting the Right to Privacy' presented at Festival of Politics, Holyrood, Edinburgh, 2010
Gillian Black 'Formation of Contract: Consensus and Intention' presented at The Role of Consent in Contract Law: Principles and Practice, Edinburgh, 2009
Gillian Black 'Publicity Rights: Exploring Justifications' presented at University of Glasgow Staff Seminar Series 2009-10, Glasgow, 2009
Gillian Black 'Publicity Rights and Data Protection' presented at Meeting of the Assistant Information Commissioners, Edinburgh, 2009
Gillian Black 'Applying data protection: what can we learn from celebrity privacy cases?' presented at Data Protection: Understanding Responsibilities, Edinburgh, 2009
Gillian Black 'Publicity Rights in the UK: Where next for celebrities?' presented at Fordham Intellectual Property Conference, Fordham University, New York, 2008
Gillian Black 'A Right of Publicity for Scots Law?' presented at Scottish Law Research Conference, Edinburgh, 2008
Gillian Black 'Commercialisation of Image' presented at Questions of Sports - What are the Legal Rights and Wrongs?, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 2008
Gillian Black 'The Evolution of Property and Celebrity Persona' presented at GikII Workshop, Edinburgh, 2006
Gillian Black 'Contract Formation: Some Problems with Theory and Practice' presented at SLS Annual Conference, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 2005
Gillian Black 'Experience Hendrix v PPX Enterprises: A New Experience in Contract Damages?' presented at Scottish Universities Law Faculties Conference, Pitlochry, 2004
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