Thomas Hoeren (born on 22 August 1961 in

Dinslaken Dinslaken () is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed Coal mining, coal mine in Dinslaken-Lohberg, Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hi ...

) is a German

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

and a former Court of appeal judge with focus on

Information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

and

Media Law Entertainment law, also known as media law, encompasses legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services often overlap with intellectual property law, which includes key components such as trademarks, copyright, and the right o ...

Career

Studies

Thomas Hoeren studied Theology and Law at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and

London Guildhall University London Guildhall University was a university in the United Kingdom from 1992 to 2002, established when the City of London Polytechnic was awarded university status. On 1 August 2002, it merged with the University of North London to form Londo ...

from 1980 to 1987. In 1986 he graduated from Theology in

. From October 1986 to May 1988 he wrote his doctorate's thesis in IT Law at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

(title of the dissertation: “Softwareüberlassung als Sachkauf” (“Software Licensing as a Product Purchase”)). In May 1994, Thomas Hoeren qualified as a professor of Civil Law (degree: Dr. habil.) at the Faculty of Law of the

(title: "Selbstregulierung im Banken- und Versicherungsrecht" ("Problems in competition law with regard to

self-regulation Self-regulation may refer to: *Emotional self-regulation *Self-control, in sociology/psychology *Self-regulated learning, in educational psychology *Self-regulation theory (SRT), a system of conscious personal management *Industry self-regulation, ...

in the banking and insurance sector")).

Academic career

Hoeren taught at the Faculty of Law of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf from April 1994 to June 1997. He was appointed as professor of Information, Media and Business Law at the Faculty of Law of the

and Head of the Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law in June 1997. This Institute deals with Civil Law,

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

and

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

on the Information Law sector and conducts research on Industrial Property Rights and E-Learning. Since 2004 Hoeren is appointed a Research Fellow at the

Oxford Internet Institute The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research, combining social and computer science to explore information, communication, and technology. It is an integral part of the University of Oxford's Social Science ...

of the

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

(Oxford). Since 2004 Hoeren was also a lecturer at the Academy of Art of Münster. Additionally, he is a lecturer for Information and IT law at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Since 2006 he is a liaison lecturer of the German National Merit Foundation (

Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

). *Hoeren is an editorial member of the magazine "Computer und Recht" and a co-editor of the magazines "Information and Communications Technology Law" and "EDI Law Review" since 1997. *In 1998, he was named co-editor of the magazine Multimedia und Recht (MMR). *In May 2005 he became editor for "Informatik und Recht" of the Swiss juridical professional journal "Jusletter". *Hoeren is an editorial advisor of the educational magazine "Ad Legendum".

Legal career

From June 1996 until the end of 2011 Hoeren was a Judge at the

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

in Düsseldorf (IP Law senate). Hoeren was one of the legal advisors of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

(DG XIII) at the “Legal Advisory Board on Information Technology”. Furthermore, he served as legal counsel to the

DENIC DENIC eG is the manager of the .de domain, the country-code top-level domain for Germany. It was founded in 1996 and is organised as a non-regulated not-for-profit cooperative. DENIC provides the Domain Name System (DNS) as well as registrat ...

and is a board member of the Research Center for Information Law of the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). Since June 2000 he is working as a 'domain name panelist' for the

WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...

. In 2005 he became a member of the expert committee for Copyright and Publishing Law at the German Union for Intellectual Property Protection. From 2012 to 2014 he wa
Dean of the Faculty of Law
at the University of Muenster. He is as well working as a professiona
photographer

Honours

*Thomas Hoeren was honoured with the

ALCATEL Alcatel SA was a French industrial conglomerate active between 1963 and 2006. It has roots to ''Compagnie Générale d’Electricité'' (CGE), a conglomerate founded in 1898 as an early state owned cable and telephone equipment company that lat ...

-SEL research award “Technische Kommunikation” ('

Technical Communication Technical communication (or tech comm) is communication of technical subject matter such as engineering, science, or technology content. The largest part of it tends to be technical writing, though importantly it often requires aspects of visual ...

') in 2005. *Nomination as a Member of the European Academy of Science and Art in 2016 *Honered with the Daidalos Silver-Medal of the German National Academic Foundation in 2018

References

External links

Website of Thomas Hoeren (University of Muenster)

List of Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeren, Thomas 1961 births Living people Legal educators Academic staff of the University of Münster University of Münster alumni University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf