On October 31, the ITM International Day took place with three exciting lectures by international guest scientists from Georgia and China.
Sergi Jorbenadze from Georgia kicked off the event with an exciting presentation on blockchain and digitalization in Georgia. Mr. Jorbenadze is an associate professor at Ivane Javakhishvili University (TSU) in Tbilisi and used the example of the Georgian land register to explain that distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain are no longer a glass bead game, but have recently begun to provide practical benefits and are being used to digitize public registers. Sergi Jorbenadze is also a partner in an international commercial law firm and was therefore able to give the audience a practical insight into how smart contracts are used in the drafting of contracts and the legal problems associated with them.
The second lecture by Prof. Lika Sajaia dealt with the challenges to freedom of expression and anti-SLAPP regulations in Georgia. SLAPP is an acronym (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) for an abusive form of lawsuit against critics, especially journalists, who publicly criticize a particular corporate practice, the conduct of public authorities or individuals. SLAPP is used to intimidate critics and is generally used by the criticized institutions to suppress the criticism expressed. Lika Sajaia is a professor at New Vision University in Tbilisi and also works for Transparency International in Georgia, so she was able to enrich her presentation with practical experience from the perspective of an NGO.
Prof. Zhou Lin, former Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, rounded off the lecture series with a fundamental lecture on the relationship between technology, copyright and information law. Based on an analysis of various copyright cases in China, Zhou Lin demonstrated the significance that artificial intelligence already has and will have in the future. Zhou Lin concluded his presentation with the thesis that the current copyright and information law offers adequate solutions for the challenges associated with AI and de lege ferenda does not need to be changed.
The presentations were followed by intensive discussions with the attendees before the International Day ended in the evening with a cozy get-together and Lebanese food.
The presentations were recorded and can be viewed on Thomas Hoeren’s YouTube channel. The ITM would like to thank the guest scientists for their interesting presentations, the fruitful discussions and an all-round successful event.
