Robert Staats is an expert in the field of copyright and the law of collecting societies. He earned his doctorate in copyright law in 2003. From 1994 to 2008, he worked as a judge and as a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice of the State of Brandenburg. From January 1, 2009, to June 30, 2026, he was a managing board member of the collecting society WORT (VG WORT) and an honorary board member of various international umbrella organizations of VG WORT. Since July 1, 2026, he has been working as a lawyer at NORDEMANN.

Robert Staats is, among other things, the chairman of the Copyright Special Committee of the German Culture Council and a member of the Copyright and Publishing Law Special Committee of the German Association for Industrial Property and Copyright (GRUR).

Furthermore, he regularly publishes contributions on copyright topics and the law of collecting societies, is a co-editor of the Praxiskommentar Wandtke/Bullinger on Copyright (from 7th edition), and participates in the legal and scientific debate with presentations.