Advanced Copyright Seminar*

Limit: 20 students.

The goal of this seminar is to explore the ways in which technological developments have affected copyright law and the ways in which copyright law has affected technological developments. How dependent on a particular state of technology is our current copyright law? How dependent on a particular state of technology should our law be? How can copyright law keep pace with the changes in technology. How specific should copyright law’s response to technology be? The seminar will afford students the opportunity to delve deeply into the provisions of the Copyright Act added by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, including the anticircumvention provisions (and exceptions) and the sections providing safe harbors from liability for internet service providers. In the course of the semester students will also explore cutting edge issues confronted by copyright law today, such as different approaches to peer to peer file sharing of music and movies, the uses of digital rights management technology and its potential abuses, and the evolution of a pay-per-use distribution system for works of authorship.

In addition to reading and discussing class materials, each student is required to research and write an analytical paper on a seminar-related topic of his/her choosing. Students are required to rewrite their papers in response to comments on their first drafts. Students may thus satisfy the "A" paper writing requirement through this seminar. As this course is a seminar, each student also will be responsible for leading a discussion related to their paper topic. Class attendance, participation in discussion, and leading discussion will form a part of the student’s grade for the course.

Meets the A Writing Requirement

Prerequiste: Copyright Law, or Intellectual Property Survey

*Typically offered every other year