Biography
Massimo Sterpi is a partner and Head of the IP & TMT department of Gianni & Origoni.
He has over 30 years of experience in all types of IP and Technology litigations and transactions and leads a large group of IP/Technology specialists, with a special focus on disrupting technologies.
Over the last years, he has been advising on a variety of projects based on disrupting technologies (AI and Neural Networks, AR/VR, Metaverse, Blockchain, NTFs, Robotics).
His most recent conference presentations and essays related to AI covered artworks made with neural networks (“The Rise of the Neural Artist” - Fordham University, NYC, 2018), IP rights created with AI (“Your next client can be an Algorithm” – Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2018), IP issues (“Generative AI and the IP problem”, Xchange Reply, 2023), works created by AI (“New Technologies and Art Creation”, Moderna Museet, Stockolm, 2019; “Syntetic Art”, Novas Conferencias Do Casino, Lisbon, 2023; “Artificial Creativity”, UIA, Rome, 2023; “Generative AI or Compositive AI?”, Beyond Production - Intelligenza Artificiale, Etica e Legislazione - OGR Torino, 2023), regulation of AI (“The Future of AI”, Legalcommunity, Rome, 2024; “AI & Copyright: The State Of The Art ”, Italian Senate, 2024).
He also advised the Italian Government on IP issues to be covered in the current draft of the Italian AI Law.
In 2024 he has been appointed as Chair of the AI Task Force of the Union Internationale des Avocats and drafted the UIA’s Guidelines on Use of AI by Lawyers.
His linkedin page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/massimo-sterpi - is one of the leading voices on legal issues related to AI.
Massimo has been awarded the prizes “Lawyer of the Year – IP” (2011) and “Lawyer of the Year – Art” (2021) by leading magazine Top Legal and “Best Italian lawyer – Art and Cultural Goods” in 2022 and 2023 by Legal Community.
Massimo has been Chairman of the IBA Committee for Art, Cultural Heritage and Cultural Institutions and is the current President of the UIA's Art Law Committee.
He is the author of or has edited numerous publications on intellectual property and art law, including “Patent Litigation – An international comparison”, “Copyright Litigation – An international comparison”, the “Art Collecting Legal Handbook”, which cover the laws of the relevant subject matters in 30 different jurisdictions.
Massimo is co-founder and professor at the Master Course on Decentralized Finance of the School of Management of the University of Turin, and also a professor at Master Courses on Competition and Innovation, as well as on Art Law, at LUISS University in Rome.
Since 2016 Massimo has been a member of the New York Angels association of angel investors and has personally invested in 8 start-ups, most of which developing projects based on disruptive technologies.