Herkko is the founder and partner of Reson Law Firm.
Herkko Hietanen is a lawyer with a PhD; he holds a master’s degree in software engineering and is a partner at Reson. Since 2001, he has participated in over 100 copyright-related court cases, defended his doctoral dissertation in technology law, published dozens of articles in international journals on IT and media law, served as an executive in an international growth company, and conducted research at some of the world’s top universities.
Experience in Information Technology
Herkko studied computer science at the University of Helsinki, earned an engineering degree from Aalto University, and has extensive experience coding web applications in PHP and JavaScript. He has been a project manager in multiple software development projects and holds a Professional Scrum Master certification.
Litigation
With over 20 years of experience as a litigator in civil and criminal cases, Herkko excels at simplifying complex technical details for the courts.
He is a licensed attorney, has completed the Finnish Bar Association’s examination, and attended the Arbitration Academy of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce. Since 2023, Herkko has been an expert arbitrator appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture in ERMI (Copyright Dispute Mediation) cases.
Clients and Assignments
Herkko’s diverse client base includes public entities, technology companies, and private individuals. Public clients range from ministries and churches to municipal federations. On the corporate side, typical clients are tech startups or publicly listed companies requiring specialized knowledge of technology law. Among private individuals, Herkko frequently represents clients in IT, employment, copyright-related disputes, or criminal cases involving technology.
Assignments range from preliminary investigations and negotiation support to litigation. Herkko is also a familiar face in parliamentary committees, where he has provided expert opinions during legislative processes.
Education and Publications
Herkko has worked in Silicon Valley and conducted research and product development at top institutions like Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley in the U.S., as well as Aalto University, LUT, and the Universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä in Finland.
He is a popular speaker at both academic and commercial events. His doctoral dissertation focused on automating copyright licensing online.
Herkko has authored nearly 30 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and conferences and served as the Finnish editor for Kluwer’s copyright database.
Advocacy and Associations
Herkko was the long-time lead of Creative Commons Finland, translating the first Creative Commons licenses into Finnish and consulting various Finnish organizations on their adoption.
He co-founded the Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI) organization and served on its board from 2001 to 2005. The association has since become one of Europe’s largest internet advocacy groups.
Herkko is a member of the Finnish IT Law Association and Copyright Association.