Foto: Sandra Hazenberg, (c) Folia

Do what you enjoy

In 2012, sisters Vicky and Kelly Breemen both graduated cum laude with Research Master’s degrees in Information Law. Vicky won two prizes for her thesis on copyright law and the digitisation of libraries: the Victorine van Schaick Prize NVB 2012 and the UvA Thesis Prize 2013. Kelly’s thesis on the protection of traditional cultural expression was also nominated for the UvA prize. The key to their success? ‘Do what you enjoy,’ says Vicky.

‘Sometime during the elective classes in human rights, intellectual property, and my minor in journalism, I began to find my bachelor studies really interesting,’ Kelly explains. She and her sister were studying law at the University of Utrecht. The case of Lucia de Berk, a woman convicted and later exonerated for murder, was frequently in the news. The case awakened Kelly and Vicky’s interest in the intersections of law and journalism. Together they organized a lecture series on protection of sources, freedom of speech and the influence of the press on ongoing court cases. From there, the University of Amsterdam’s Research Master’s in Information Law was a natural choice.

Broad interests

The sisters credit their cum laude graduation from the Research Master’s programme to hard work, but also to the open atmosphere at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) and the fact that from the beginning they were incorporated into all aspects of the Institute’s research activities. Vicky: ‘The IViR is really a good working environment for people with broad interests. You receive continuous feedback from different perspectives because there are researchers with all kinds of backgrounds walking around. Information Law is not one subject; the Institute brings researchers together who work in a lot different areas, including copyright, media law and fundamental rights. Therefore instead of limiting yourself, you can study just the right combination of subjects.’ Kelly nods. ‘The research topics at the IViR are inherently diverse because information law incorporates different legal areas and subtopics. They are all related to each other.’