Copyright Research Seminar
Fall 2009
I. Course Eligibility:
Open to students who have taken or are taking Fundamentals of Intellectual Property; not open to students who have taken or are taking another copyright course.
Should satisfy the J.D. upper-level writing requirement.
Limited enrollment: 21. In the event of unlikely need, preference will be given to those who have already completed Fun-IP.
II. Content & methodology:
A third of the course will review fundamental principles of ever-more complex U.S. copyright law with an eye to students’ existing foundation in copyright in the context of IP law generally. A typical paper might resemble Field, Copyright Protection for Perfumes, 45 IDEA 19 (2004) (with English translation of Dutch opinion).
Remaining classes will be devoted to student presentations of research in progress. Participants will each make two presentations (first based on an outline) and will be expected to contribute thoughtfully to each others’ progress toward final papers.
III. Materials
- A. A statutory supplement, i.e., Selected IP & Unfair Competitions Statutes (West) or equivalent will be necessary (assumed that everyone has it).
- B. S.M. McJohn, Copyright: Examples and Explanations (2d ed. 2009).
- C. Field, Selected short papers such as the one linked above.
- D. Student outlines and papers
- E. Field, Fundamentals of IP (assumed that everyone has it).
IV. Grades:
Grades will be based on a paper (50%), two presentations (40%) and participation (including helpful suggestions about others' papers/presentations (10%).
Papers shoud be the best evidence of accomplishment -- much better than letter grades.
V. Attendance, Preparation
- Prompt attendance is expected. Anyone who misses more than two classes without medical documentation can be "disenrolled" without further warning.
- Thoughtful preparation is expected. Student presenters need to suggest readings far enough in advance that classmates can be up to speed.
- Open discussion will be encouraged.
VI. Assignments
See II for the basic scheme. In the first third of the course, we will review cases in Chapters 5-7 of my book. As we go along, equivalent text and examples in the McJohn book will be considered. We will then branch out into additional topics dictated by student interest.(TBA, but )
