David Brennan's primary fields of research and teaching are patent and copyright law, with a particular focus upon their interface with other private law regimes such as contract, property and restitution. David is currently undertaking research and writing on: the question of whether copyright infringements not causing lost sales matter; the new fair basis and sufficiency requirements in Australian patent law; the public policy choice between safe-harbour copyright exceptions and public law graduated response regimes; issues of attribution of performership in the Australian film industry, and the boundary between natural phenomena and patentable pharmaceuticals.
David provides copyright consultancy services to peak bodies in the Australian copyright industry. In this capacity he has participated extensively in copyright law reform and in royalty-setting determinations. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Law Council of Australia and is the editor of the Australian Intellectual Property Journal.
He was a member of the first cohort within the University to undertake its Graduate Certificate of University Teaching.
Copyright law, patent law, biotechnology, regulation of public communications, restitutionary monetary awards, economic valuation of intellectual property uses, intellectual property disputes before the World Trade Organization.
Other Faculty and University Responsibilities
Law Faculty Progress Committee
Other
Consulting work Copyright Consultant, Screenrights - the Audio Visual Copyright Society
Previous positions held Legal Counsel, Screenrights - the Audio Visual Copyright Society, Sydney
Solicitor, Davies Collison Cave, Melbourne
Judge's Associate, Justice Heerey, Federal Court of Australia, Victoria District Registry
