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Jasmine Lauren Hannah

Jasmine

PhD Student

Email: j.l.hannah@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

Thesis Title

Painting the Narrative: An Exploration of Whether Makeup Artistry Could Be Considered a Dramatic Work within the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and Its Implications for the Creative Industries

Supervisors

Abstract:

This project investigates whether makeup artistry can be recognised as a “dramatic work” under UK copyright law, recognising its fundamental role in performance, storytelling, and character portrayal. Traditionally, makeup’s copyright eligibility has focused upon its aesthetic, treating it similarly to traditional art forms as an “artistic work”. However, this perspective overlooks the performative power of makeup in film and theatre. Instead, this research argues that makeup contributes deeply to narrative and identity in performance, if not constituting a performance itself, thus warranting fresh consideration of its copyrightability.

By reframing makeup artistry as a “dramatic work”, this research makes a novel contribution to legal scholarship by challenging traditional interpretations of copyright law. It advocates for an expanded understanding of a “dramatic work” to better reflect the dynamic nature of contemporary art, such as makeup artistry, offering a broader scope of protection that captures its transformative qualities in performance. In doing so, this research underscores makeup’s cultural importance and calls for fairer recognition of modern creative practices - providing new protection pathways for non-traditional art forms and demonstrating its significance for creators and scholars alike through fresh insights into the intersection of copyright, performance, and culture.

Biography

Jasmine is a PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London, recipient of the London Interdisciplinary Social-Sciences (LISS) Doctoral Training Partnership scholarship.

Jasmine completed her LLM in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary with distinction in 2024 and was the recipient of the J.A.L Stirling Postgraduate Bursary, supported by the British Literary and Artistic Copyright Association and The Stationer’s Company. Jasmine also holds a first-class Law with International Legal Studies LLB (Hons) from the University of Leeds, where she also spent a year studying business law with the University of Sydney.

Jasmine was also a trustee and social media manager for the charity Young Abuse Support and co-authored a training manual for secondary school counsellors, offering a trauma-based approach to discussing and supporting victims of young partner domestic abuse.

Her research interests include intellectual property, specifically copyright law, and its intersection with the creative industries such as film, theatre, fashion, music and video games.

She is currently a teaching associate at Queen Mary for the Fashion Enterprise Law LLM module.

Publications

Research

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