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Beer Law

Beer Law

Beer Law

Authors:
Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Bond University, Queensland
William Van Caenegem, Bond University, Queensland
Anthea Gerrard, Bond University, Queensland
Radim Polčák, Masarykova Univerzita v Brně, Czech Republic
Alain Strowel, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Andreas Wiebe, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany
Published:
September 2025
Availability:
Not yet published - available from September 2025
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9781009632591

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    Beer affects the law, and the law affects beer. The regulation of beer goes back thousands of years, and beer laws have shaped society in both obvious and unexpected ways. Beer Law provides a fun and accessible account of the complex interaction between law and beer. The book engages with a broad range of beer law topics including:
    • Health,
    • Intellectual property,
    • Consumer protection and unfair competition,
    • Contract,
    • Competition,
    • International trade,
    • Environment,
    • Tax.
    The book also provides a detailed description of beer, brewing, beer as a product, and the brewing industry, as well as an overview of some broad lessons from the regulation of beer. Given the importance of understanding law in context, the book also explores beer, beer culture and beer laws in more detail with a focus on Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Nordic countries, North America, and Britain and Ireland.

    • Provides an accessible account of beer, brewing, beer as a product, and the brewing industry
    • Explores the complex legal issues involved in beer law
    • Discusses beer culture and beer law in a selection of key jurisdictions helping readers to understand the regulation of beer in a broader societal context

    Product details

    September 2025
    Paperback
    9781009632591
    261 pages
    229 × 152 mm
    Not yet published - available from September 2025

    Table of Contents

    • 1. About beer, beer brewing, and beer law
    • 2. Germany – purity laws, beer gardens and beer wars
    • 3. Healthy laws for unhealthy beers?
    • 4. The Nordic countries – from 'lagom' to the extreme and back again
    • 5. Beer seen through intellectual property glasses, and intellectual property through beer glasses…
    • 6. Belgium as a beer country (or beer as a Belgian country?)
    • 7. Consumer protection and unfair competition law
    • 8. Czech beer culture – the Urquell and 'going for a one'
    • 9. Contracts, competition, international trade, and the environment
    • 11. Why tax beer – what has it achieved?
    • 12. British and Irish beer traditions
    • 13. Broader lessons from the regulation of beer
    • Postscript.
      Authors
    • Dan Jerker B. Svantesson , Bond University, Queensland

      Dan Jerker B. Svantesson is Professor at the Faculty of Law, Bond University. He has written extensively on international aspects of Internet law and data privacy. He is also an award-winning amateur brewer, including a Chocolate Baltic Porter being 'Best of Show' amongst 580 competing beers in the 2022 Queensland Amateur Brewing Championship.

    • William Van Caenegem , Bond University, Queensland

      William Van Caenegem is Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, Bond University, QLD Australia and an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He holds a Masters and Doctoral degree from Cambridge University, and previously published the monograph 'Intellectual Property and Innovation' with Cambridge University Press. He has written extensively on IP law, brand protection and competition issues.

    • Anthea Gerrard , Bond University, Queensland

      Anthea Jane Gerrard is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law, Bond University. She studied commerce, law and accounting in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia; is an associate member of the Tax Institute of Australia, previous editor of the Revenue Law Journal; taught taxation law and constitutional covering the role of excise duties between different jurisdictions for over twenty years.

    • Radim Polčák , Masarykova Univerzita v Brně, Czech Republic

      Radim Polčák is Professor at the Institute of Law and Technology, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University. He founded the Institute of Law and Technology at Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, where the law of specific production (including beer law) has been taught and researched among other fields of technology law. He has written extensively about the theory and philosophy of technology law.

    • Alain Strowel , Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

      Alain Strowel is a professor at Université Catholique de Louvain where he teaches courses in intellectual property, IT and media law. He is also an attorney at the Brussels bar. He graduated in law, economics and philosophy at the UCLouvain and the University of Amsterdam. Today his research focuses on data governance, Artificial Intelligence and the regulation of online platforms.

    • Andreas Wiebe , Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany

      Andreas Wiebe is Chair for Civil Law, Intellectual Property and Unfair Competition Law, Media and Information Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Göttingen, Germany. He has Several publications on unfair competition law and IP in German and English; Co-editor of the Commentary on Unfair Competition Law in Austria since 2007; organiser of annual conferences on IP and unfair competition law in Germany and Austria: active member of the German IP Association (GRUR); Director of the LL.M. Programme on European and Transnational IP and ICT Law at University of Göttingen.