Eden Sarid, SJD
Thesis: A Framework for Informal Creativity.
Supervisor: Ariel Katz.
Awards: U of T Faculty of Law Doctoral Scholarship (2014); Centre for International Governance Innovation Doctoral Scholarship (2014); U of T Faculty of Law Fellowship (2014); Vanier Graduate Scholarship (2016; Nathan Strauss QC Graduate Fellowship in International Law and Intellectual Property (2016); U of T Faculty of Arts & Science Oxford Mobility Fund (2016); Government of Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019).
“Very soon into my undergraduate law studies, I became intrigued by deeper questions about the law,” says Eden Sarid, an assistant professor of law at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College, London. “I realized I was interested in diving deeper into academic discourse, and I’m also passionate about teaching students, so the two came together in a nice way in terms of career.”
Sarid specializes in intellectual property (IP), including the creative economy, copyright, trademarks and patents. His current research focuses on creative industries that self-regulate, rather than use IP law, groups such as elite-chefs, drag queens and fashion designers.
“I look into what binds these creative groups together and how they produce so much creativity without IP law,” he says. “It raises questions about the function IP in everyday life, and how the law interacts with non-conforming communities.”
For example, Sarid studies how drag queens govern their creativity and how they interact with IP.
“Studying drag queens provides a unique opportunity to see how commodification and mainstreaming affects a non-conforming community’s response to the law,” says Sarid, “and it emphasizes the jurisprudential value of queer analysis and queer communities of practice.”
In fact, he has a written a chapter on the topic, “Queer Theory and IP,” for the book A Research Agenda for Intellectual Property and Gender, forthcoming in 2024.
Sarid’s eyes light up when he talks about the U of T Faculty of Law and its impact on his career.
“I can’t say enough about how brilliant it is,” he says. “It’s a dynamic, supportive, collegial community all around. From all corners of the school, it builds your academic career and character. You get an introduction to academic life and what it means to be a researcher.
“Our professors viewed us as future colleagues, not as students, and were fully invested in our success. I can’t emphasize enough how supported we felt. My supervisor, Ariel Katz, and my SJD committee members, Vanina Leschziner and Anthony Niblett, were an extraordinary dream team. I think this is what sets UofT apart, everyone has a can-do attitude and the Faculty is invested in our success in ways you can’t even imagine.