Dr Che Ekaratne

Areas of interest
Areas of research interest include:
- Intellectual property law, especially copyright law
- Entertainment law
- Publicity rights and other protections of image and identity
- Laws applicable to deepfakes and digital replicas
- The impact of technological developments such as AI on the above areas of law
Teaching
- Contemporary Issues in Intellectual Property Law (LLM, module convenor)
- Intellectual Property Law (LLB)
- English Legal System and Skills (LLB)
- Tort (LLB)
Background
Dr S. Che Ekaratne is a Lecturer in Law at the 黑料不打烊 and an attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York. Her research focuses on intellectual property law, entertainment law, and intersections with other aspects of private law. Che has published research on topics including copyright, passing off, publicity rights, and laws relevant to deepfakes. Her research has been cited in court judgments and has generated interdisciplinary interest. She has provided invited expertise to libraries, the media and a national law commission on issues such as AI, image rights, and intersections between intellectual property and succession law.
Much of Che’s research involves comparative analyses of legal issues across multiple jurisdictions. She has experience researching and teaching laws of several jurisdictions including England & Wales, the United States and New Zealand. Her academic credentials include a B.A. summa cum laude from Yale University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an LL.M. in Commercial Law from the University of Bristol and a PhD from the University of Canterbury. She also studied law at the University of Oxford during her Yale undergraduate degree.
At the 黑料不打烊, Che teaches intellectual property and other private law topics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has also taught law at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University of Wellington. Before entering academia, Che’s work as an attorney at an American law firm included submissions to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Academic qualifications
- BA, summa cum laude, Yale University
- JD, Harvard Law School
- LLM, with Distinction, University of Bristol
- PhD, University of Canterbury
Professional bodies/affiliations
- Attorney, New York Bar
Selected publications
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Manipulated images: a taxonomy’ (2020) 42(6) European Intellectual Property Review 353
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Defamation by Photo-Manipulation under New Zealand Law’ in András Koltay and Paul Wragg (eds), Research Handbook on Comparative Privacy & Defamation (Edward Elgar 2020)
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘U.S. Court of Appeals clarifies standard for trademark genericide and affirms that GOOGLE trademark is not generic’ (2017) 12(9) Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice 730
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Head-Swapped Photographs & Copyright: A New Zealand Perspective’ (2017) 23 Canterbury Law Review 39
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Validation under s 14 of the Wills Act: past, present and future’ (2017) 9(2) New Zealand Family Law Journal 23
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Stealing surveillance: Prosecuting misuses of non-covert CCTV in New Zealand’ (2016) 21(3) Media and Arts Law Review 294
- S. Che Ekaratne, ‘Hendrix: Post-Mortem Publicity Rights Across Borders’ (2014) 19(2) Media and Arts Law Review 221