Barry Scannell

Partner

Barry is a Partner in William Fry’s Technology department. He specialises in artificial intelligence (AI), copyright, IP, technology law and data protection.

Barry is internationally recognised as a leading expert in the area of AI law. He advises clients on issues relating to text and data mining, AI copyright infringement, machine learning, and AI ownership. He has expertise in AI specific contracts, licences, and dataset agreements. Barry specialises in advising on the AI Act and other legislation such as the DSA and GDPR from an AI compliance perspective.

Barry was appointed by the Irish Government to Ireland’s AI Advisory Council; has recently completed the writing stage of his PhD on AI and copyright; and is a member of the Law Society of Ireland’s IP & Technology Committee.

Recent work includes advising:

Some of Ireland’s largest media organisations on data licensing to AI companies and dataset agreements;
A New York-based NASDAQ traded plc on the development and IP issues related to proprietary large language models;
A major BigTech multinational on the copyright considerations of their services related to AI;
One of the main social media platforms on various legal issues related to their AI products being released.”

2025 Legal 500 EMEA

"Barry Scannell is a first class lawyer with tremendous technical and commercial knowledge of a new and transformative area of law. He is able to explain complicated and esoteric information that allows his clients to understand the issues and opportunities they are facing." "Exceptional in his approach to our business challenges. Persistent in his pursuit of our interests and reliable in his availability and consistent support, I could not recommend Barry highly enough." "Great depth of understanding of how AI services operate - allows him to give nuanced advice. He is continually up-to-speed on the latest developments in the area, both technological and regulatory and I know he is extremely well-informed with whatever advice he gives."