Intellectual Property Law

Rowan (she/her) is an SJD student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law with research interests at the intersection of copyright and intellectual property law and human rights. Her LLM thesis considered how Canadian copyright law could better engage with Indigenous conceptions of intellectual property. During her JD program, she published a paper analyzing whether fictional languages such as High Valyrian from Game of Thrones are properly the subject of copyright protection in the United States.

Rowan’s doctoral thesis focuses on eliminating barriers to accessibility for disabled persons under copyright law. She studies disability exceptions to copyright law passed in compliance with the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, and asks whether these exceptions effectively meet the needs of disabled persons. Her research analyzes these exceptions from both a copyright theory perspective and a human rights/anti-discrimination perspective.

Rowan has a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) specializing in Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law, where she graduated third in her class. She also graduated with distinction from an LLM in Media Law at Queen Mary, University of London. Rowan is called to the bar in both British Columbia and California and has practiced as in-house legal counsel at a social media company with a focus on licensing.

Outside her interest in law, Rowan enjoys highland dancing and playing soccer. She is also a Board Member and the Chair of the Governance Committee at QMUNITY, BC’s Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit Resource Centre.