Syllabus
Please note that this syllabus is subject to some modifications to meet the students' needs as perceived by the professor during the semester.
Where: LL 101
When: MW 11:00-12:15
Howard University is committed to providing an educational environment that is accessible to all students. In accordance with this policy, students in need of accommodations due to a disability should contact the HUSL Office of the Dean of Students, Assistant Dean Dionne Duckett (202-806-8006; dduckett@law.howard.edu), for verification and determination of reasonable accommodations as soon as possible after admission to the Law School and at the beginning of each semester as needed.
This course is one of the fundamental intellectual property courses offered at HUSL. The course covers the basics of copyright law with particular attention to issues of copyrightability and problems of social justice raised by current copyright law. International aspects will be considered as well.
Some aspects of copyright will not be explored very deeply because they are often addressed more fully in specialized courses such as Cyberlaw (e.g., software and digital copying), Entertainment Law (e.g., music industry), and Communications Law (e.g., cable-related issues). We will not ignore those topics, but the course is not intended to focus on them. It is a general, introductory course.
Normally I do not identify relevant statutory sections in the syllabus. I expect you to read all sections noted in the cases and materials and in class. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of studying the statute. You are expected to know the statute well. The final exam will test for both your facility in finding law in the statute and in interpreting it by testing you on a section of the statute which was not covered thoroughly (or perhaps not at all) in class.
The course will be graded mostly on the final exam. The exam will be completely open book. As noted above, copyright law is statutory and the starting point for any analysis is the statute (or perhaps on rare occasion, the Constitution). This goes for the exam as well, i.e., start your analysis on the exam with the statute. The other grade components are the preparation of the creative works and class attendance and participation.
With the growth in the importance of copyrights, and in the number of students taking copyright courses, the number and variety of commercial supplemental educational materials, including treatises, hornbooks, audio tapes, flashcards, and other materials, have expanded dramatically. If you choose to use these materials, be sure to use current editions since the law has been changing significantly on an annual basis for at least the past 15 years. Consequently, materials just a few years old could provide wrong information (e.g., term of copyright protection).
Julie E. Cohen, Lydia Pallas Loren, Ruth Gana Okediji, & Maureen A. O'Rourke, Copyright in a Global Information Economy (2d Edition Aspen L. & Bus. 2006).2007 Supplement to the Cohen book
Website supported by the coursebook authors -- lots of useful information and links
Steven D. Jamar, Copyright Basics (2005)
Other supplemental materials posted online or handed out from time to time
Office
402 Houston Hall
Phone
202-806-8017
stevenjamar@gmail.com (I will typically respond to email within 24 hours.)
Office Hours
The times listed below may change. I will post up-to-date office hours online at http://iipsj.com/SDJ/index.htm
Mon.
1:00-2:30
Wed. 1:00-2:30 Fri. 10:00-noon I am often in my office at times not posted as office hours and during those times I am generally able to meet with students.
Occasionally I will not be able to keep these office hours because of other commitments.
If you need to see me at another time, please contact me so we can make an appointment.
1.
5 pts.
2.
5 pts.
3.
10 pts.
4.
5 pts.
5.
65 pts.
6.
10 pts.
Please note that items 1-4 are graded primarily on effort rather than result. If you do the work and it shows sufficient effort, you get full points. If you do a rushed, pro-forma job, you get half points.
Prepare a form that would be likely to be copyrightable. A "form" in this context means a form that would be used for gathering, storing, or organizing information. Be sure to refer to the Copyright office regulations on copyrighting forms.Include a cover sheet briefly explaining what the form is for and why you think it may be copyrightable. If you doubt that your form would be accepted for copyright, please explain why. The cover sheet must also include your name, the course title, date, and the project title (e.g., copyrightable form), and it must be typed.
Prepare a two dimensional artistic work, e.g., a photograph or drawing, or a very small three dimensional work. It can be a computer graphic as well as hard copy. I prefer that it be something you prepare specifically for this class so that you think about the creative process and its relation to copyright as you create it. Nonetheless, it need not be a work you prepare for this course; it can be a work you did at any time for any reason.Include a cover sheet briefly explaining what the work is (e.g., photograph of three elephants at sunset on the Chobe River bank, Namibia), when you created it, and whether you would permit it to be included in a Copyright Class Art Exhibit which might be displayed toward the end of the semester. Include a brief reflection on the creative process you went through to create the work. All works will be returned. The cover sheet must also include your name, the course title, date, and the project title (e.g., pictorial work), and it must be typed.
I will be providing you with a old French poem and a literal translation of it and perhaps one or two other translations. You are to prepare a derivative work which would be a translation of the French poem into English. You will need to decide what elements of the poem to keep and what to discard. It should be a derivative work, not an "inspired by" sort of new creation. That is, you should capture enough of the style and structure of the poem as well as its content so that it would recognizably be derived from the original.Include a cover sheet briefly explaining the approach you took to the translation/derivative work. What aspects of the poem did you try to keep? Which did you choose to set aside? Why? The cover sheet must also include your name, the course title, date, and the project title (e.g., derivative work),and it must be typed.
Write a parody of a poem, song, or short story (extra credit for performance in front of the class if it is more than a trivial amount of work). Hand in both the original work (if appropriate) and your parody. If the work is something with which I am familiar, I do not need a copy of the original.Include a cover sheet briefly identifying what you are parodying and why you think your work would qualify as fair use. The cover sheet must also include your name, the course title, date, and the project title (e.g., parody),and it must be typed.
The final exam is typically 3 hours long, and is open book -- you may use the text, the statute, and any other materials you care to bring. You may not use computers, cell phones, PDAs, etc.The following description is intended to help you focus your exam preparation efforts. It is not a statement of what the exam will or will not contain. Nor is it a promise that it will break down in time and focus as indicated here. Nonetheless, this is a rough guide as to how I see the exam at this point and if you prepare accordingly you should be well prepared for the exam even if it is quite different from what is noted below (which it may well be).
Prior exams are available for downloading from the copyright course homepage and some are available from the library.The exam is likely to include: one question which will require you to demonstrate facility with statutory interpretation (e.g., a technical work for hire question which requires reading definitions closely, or a new statutory section which you will be required to parse and apply); and one or more typical law school essay questions which will require synthesis and application of a variety of things about copyright law (sample topics: subject matter, substantially similar, fair use, preemption). The exam may also include an essay question seeking to cause you to reflect on copyright in general (e.g., consider the relationship of copyright law and artistic creativity). This list does not foreclose questions on anything covered in the course, including questions which require basic knowledge about pre-Berne compliance notice, the 1909 statutory publication requirement, etc.
The fact patterns and exams from 1997, 2003, and Spring 2004, Fall 2004, Spring 2006, and Spring 2007 are online. Toward the end of the semester I provide an involved fact pattern on which the exam will be based. The fact pattern may be based on a previous fact patterns or it may be new. This fact pattern provides you with a structure for reviewing the course and preparing for the exam.
The law school attendance policy will be enforced. If you miss 25% or more of the scheduled class sessions, you will receive an "F" for the course unless you formally withdraw from the course before the last day to drop a course as set by the law school academic calendar. Under the law school policy, attendance means being present at the start of class and throughout the class period. Tardy students and students who leave class early, including those who leave and return during class, may be counted as absent.
Please note that the planned schedule often changes during the semester due to cancelled classes, changes of emphasis, and other factors. Nonetheless, this schedule will be followed fairly closely in terms of order of coverage of material and the course usually does not fall more than a week behind.
For all text assignments, be sure to read the relevant Copyright Act provisions in the statutory supplement. This is a statutory course.
Website supported by the coursebook authors -- lots of useful information and links
Introduction to the course -- scope, teaching methods, grading
Overview of Copyright -- Read Cohen 3-10, Steven D. Jamar, Copyright Basics (2005)
Fixation -- Cohen 45-57 (Williams)
Project 1: Form assigned; due Wed Jan. 30 (Copyright Office Reg. 202.1)
Idea/Expression Dichotomy -- Cohen 72-90 (Baker)
Derivative Works and Compilations -- Cohen 90-110
MLK Jr. Holiday
Sole authors, joint authors, works made for hire, U.S. Government Works -- Cohen 110-138; Cohen 11-13
Formalities -- Cohen 19-21; 139-153 Duration/Formalities Worksheeet
Project 1: Form due Wed. (n.b. Copyright Office Reg. 202.1, Cohen n. 4 pp. 95-96)
Project 2: Pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work - Assigned -- due in two week
Duration -- Cohen 153-169 Duration/Formalities Worksheeet
Renewals; Terminations of Transfers; & Mechanics of Transfers -- Cohen 169-209; esp. Abend, Boosey, &Tasini cases; http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
Useful articles; Architectural works -- Cohen 209-235; 269-280
Characters -- Cohen 280-290
Cohen 24-33
Computer Software; Databases -- Cohen 235-269; 290-313
Project 2: Pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work due Wednesday this week
Project 3: derivative work - Due on Wednesday in three weeks, read statute on derivative works
Elements of Infringement -- Cohen 313-323
The Reproduction Right -- Cohen 325-365
The Distribution Right (including First Sale Doctrine) -- Cohen 365-385
Derivative Works -- Cohen 385-408
Cohen 33-41
Moral Rights - Cohen 408-426
Public Performance and Public Display Rights - Cohen 426-443
Project 4: parody assigned - read Copyright Act on Fair Use and Campbell case (Cohen 538-548)
The Music Industry -- Cohen 443-473
Project 3: derivative work due on Wednesday
Cohen 3-19
Direct Infringement -- Cohen 473-479
Vicarious and Contributory Infringement -- Cohen 479-488
Inducement -- Cohen 488-501
On-line Service Provider Liability -- Cohen 501-511
Criminal Infringement -- Cohen 511-525
Cohen 13-19
Fair Use -- Cohen 525-603
Cohen 13-19
Fair Use -- Cohen 525-603 (listen to He's So Fine and My Sweet Lord and the MIDI versions on http://library.law.columbia.edu/music_plagiarism/006/006.html; and Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison version, and 2 Live Crew version ) For others check out http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/law/library/song.html .
Project 4: parody due Wednesday
Technological Protections (especially DMCA) -- Cohen 603-649
Preemption -- Cohen 650-676
[Publicity and Misappropriation -- Cohen, 677-699]
Contract -- 700-718
Misuse -- Cohen 718-735
Remedies -- Cohen 768-801
Reread -- Cohen Ch. 1
