Beliz Bayrak

Profile

Expertise: Copyright Law, Entertainment Law

Thesis title:  How Will AI Impact the Film Industry and Did the Movies Have it Right by Portraying AI As the Villain Protagonist?

Supervisors:

Professor Johanna Gibson

Mr Gavin Sutter

Summary of research:

This research investigates the transformative impact of AI technologies on the film industry, with a specific focus on performers’ rights and the legal challenges arising under the UK Copyright Act. The critical nature of this inquiry is underscored by recent disruptions in the industry: during early 2023, members of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild in the US initiated strikes to defend their rights against the encroaching influence of AI. Concerns about AI’s capacity to disrupt the industry and jeopardize employment are substantiated by Equity’s findings, with 65% of members identifying AI as a threat, rising to 93% among audio artists. While these strikes were centered in the US, similar challenges are evident in the UK, where shared union memberships and reports of slow industry adaptation highlight the transnational implications of AI’s integration.

Biography:

Beliz earned her LLB from Bilkent University, Turkey, in 2021. She completed her legal internship at a leading Istanbul firm specializing in Commercial and Corporate Law, qualifying to practice in Turkey and joining the Istanbul Bar Association in January 2023. In 2024, she completed her LLM at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), focusing on intellectual property law. Her distinction-awarded dissertation explored the copyrightability of tattoos in the US and UK and its human rights implications. Currently, Beliz is pursuing her PhD at QMUL as a Herchel Smith Scholar and serves as a Deputy Peer Review Editor for the Queen Mary Law Journal.

Research