OUR TEAM · PROFILE
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aksu
Working in civil law, intellectual and industrial property, IT law and artificial intelligence law, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aksu’s research brings together fundamental issues of private law and the legal challenges posed by technology.
He graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1988 and completed his master’s studies in public law at the same university in 1992. He completed his doctorate in private law at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany, in 2000.
He began serving as an assistant professor at Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 2001, became an associate professor in 2008 and a professor in 2018. Alongside his academic work in the Department of Civil Law, he has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses and supervised master’s and doctoral theses.
His work includes the legal protection of computer programs, copyright, use of works in digital environments, domain names and the intersection of AI and intellectual property. His civil law publications extend to the law of obligations, personality rights, property law and inheritance law.
Practice areas
Intellectual and Industrial Property Law
Copyright, protection of computer programs, authors’ rights, exhaustion of the distribution right in digital copies, patents and licensing. Research on the use of intellectual creations in AI training and the protection of rights on digital platforms.
Civil Law
Law of persons, family, inheritance and property law; general principles of the law of obligations, formation and validity of contracts, performance and impediments to performance. Personality rights and the protection of rights in private-law relationships.
Information Technology Law
Internet and domain name law, legal issues concerning software and digital content, personal data and the right to be forgotten. Legal challenges arising from artificial intelligence and medical informatics.
Artificial Intelligence Law
Legal issues at the intersection of AI and intellectual property law; the use of works and other intellectual creations to train AI systems, copyright and the legal assessment of those uses.
Personal Data Protection (KVKK)
Protection and processing of personal data, big data and the right to be forgotten, and their relationship with personality rights and IT law.
Academic career
- 2018 — Present
- Professor · Istanbul University
Faculty of Law, Department of Private Law.
- 2008 — 2018
- Associate Professor · Istanbul University
Faculty of Law, Department of Private Law.
- 2001 — 2008
- Assistant Professor · Istanbul University
Faculty of Law, Department of Private Law.
- 1999 — 2000
- Postdoctoral Research Assistant · University of Tübingen
Faculty of Law; civil law, employment law and the history of private law.
- 1989 — 1992
- Research Assistant · Istanbul Technical University
Faculty of Management, Management Engineering.
Education
- 1994 — 2000
- Doctorate · Private Law
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany.
- 1989 — 1992
- Master’s Degree · Public Law
Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences.
- 1984 — 1988
- Undergraduate Degree · Law
Istanbul University Faculty of Law.
Selected publications
Selected books, book chapters and editorial work. English renderings of Turkish titles are provided for reference and do not indicate English-language editions.
- 2025 · BOOK CHAPTER
An Overview of the Issues Arising from the Use of Intellectual Creations in AI Training and Observations on the Hamburg Regional Court’s LAION Decision
Festschrift for Prof. Dr. Ahmet M. Kılıçoğlu, Atılım University Publications, pp. 83–142.
- 2025 · BOOK CHAPTER
An Overview of Issues Arising from Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Law
Artificial Intelligence Law & Digitalisation in Law, TÜBA, pp. 165–200.
- 2024 · BOOK
Information Technology Law
Istanbul University Faculty of Open and Distance Education (AUZEF).
- 2023 · EDITORIAL WORK
Artificial Intelligence and Law
Editor: Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aksu. On İki Levha Publishing.
- 2021 · BOOK CHAPTER
Medical Informatics Law
Medical Informatics, Istanbul University, pp. 811–972.
- 2017 · BOOK
The Effect of Death During Divorce Proceedings on a Spouse’s Inheritance Rights
Filiz Kitabevi, Istanbul.
- 2015 · BOOK CHAPTER
Turkey (‘.tr’)
Domain Name Law and Practice: An International Handbook, Oxford University Press, pp. 919–943.
- 2006 · BOOK
The Protection of Computer Programs under Intellectual Property Law
Beta, Istanbul.
Languages
- GermanAdvanced · C1
- EnglishIntermediate · B1
- FrenchIntermediate · B1