Yaniv Benhamou

Presentation

Yaniv Benhamou is a professor of digital, information, and media law and Director of the Digital Law Center (DLC) at the Faculty of Law. He is also a lawyer and a member of the Radio and Television Supervisory Authority (AIEP).

In terms of academic research, his primary research focuses on the regulation of emerging technologies (e.g., Web3+AI), platforms (e.g., social media), the cultural and creative sector (e.g., music, visual arts, video games), and the collective dimension of data (e.g., data commons, open-source licenses).

He is notably the author of a monograph titled “Creative Value Chains: Copyright and Beyond for a Better Value Distribution,” published by Bristol University Press (2026), which proposes new remuneration models for artists and internet users in the digital and AI era. He is also the author or co-author of numerous national and international reports, notably on copyright and museums for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as well as on digital sovereignty and digital sovereignty in the context of AI for the Latin Cantons (CLDN). He has co-directed several research projects in the field of art and cultural property law, including an SNSF research project on digital twins of Buddhist sculptures deployed on a blockchain, as well as a research project on the digitization of art (Digitization of Museum Collections). His research has led him to undertake several visiting researcher stays, notably at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University (2018), the Centre for Media and Communications Law (CMCL) at Melbourne Law School (2016), and the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich (2006).

In terms of institutional responsibilities, he currently serves as Director of the Digital Law Center (DLC), Director of the Digital Law Summer School, and a member of the Steering Committee of the CAS Digital Law Finance Law and the Center for Art Law. Between 2019 and 2025, he also designed and led the interdisciplinary course “Understanding Digital Technology,” the Digital Clinics, and the “Let’s Talk Digital” conferences.

In addition to his academic work, he serves as a member of the Swiss Federal Radio and Television Supervisory Authority (AIEP), which adjudicates complaints against the media. He also serves as Of Counsel at a law firm in Geneva and is a member of the Bar Association’s Commission on Innovation and Modernization (CIMBAR). He is also active in the cultural sphere. In particular, he served as assistant curator for the exhibition “Controversies: An Ethical and Legal History of Photography,” organized by the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne (Artcurial Prize for Best Contemporary Art Book 2008), co-founded Artists Rights, a pro bono legal advisory service for artists (i.e., volunteer lawyers for the arts in collaboration with lab-of-arts and rosabrux), and regularly teaches copyright law to museums as part of the legal training programs offered by AMS (Association of Swiss Museums).