IM 350, Fall 2009
Intellectual Property Law and New Media
Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Interactive Media Program
& Department of
CGCC 315; office: 677-2378;
home: 672-5878
ell@bradley.edu
Freeforafee.com
Lamoureux's homepage; Professor Beliveau's homepage; the Professor's homepage
Tues: 10:30-11:30; Thurs: 1:30-2:30 and by appointment
Steven L. Baron, B.A., J. D.
Mandell Menkes LLC
333 West Wacker Drive
Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (312) 251-1009
sbaron@mandellmenkes.com
(class inquiries only. No free legal advice given)
Texts
Edward Lee Lamoureux, Steve Baron, M. Clair Stewart (2009). Intellectual Property Law and Interactive Media: Free For A Fee. Peter Lang Publishers.
McLeod, Kembrew (2001). Owning Culture: Authorship, Ownership, & Intellectual Property Law. Peter Lang Publishers.
Supplementary Materials:
DMCA (pdf) Summary of DMCA (pdf); Copyright Law of the United States; World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Course Objectives:
Interactive Media students operate in production, management, and consumption environments filled with increasingly complex intellectual property issues and practices. IM 350 seeks to familiarize students with creative, social, cultural, and legal contexts and challenges surrounding the protection of (1) intellectual property (2) intellectual creativity and (3) creative environments in the commons. Students should leave the course with an increased appreciation of interrelationships among the roles of law, public policy, economic development, and creativity in multimedia activities.
Special
Considerations:
You will sign in each class day. Failure to sign the roll sheet results in "missing" the day. Missing the day results in no scoring of the daily contribution.
The final exam is only given on Friday Dec. 11, 2:30-4:30. No early or make-up
exams will be arranged for any exam. Students with emergencies must contact Dr. Lamoureux (in person or by
phone) before the end of the test period; accommodations will be made
We
have a class e-mail alias <im35001-fa@bumail.bradley.edu>. Please
check it daily (if you forward your mail out of it, be sure to empty
the BU
box regularly). I deduct 25 points (I'll notify you) from your score
total each time--after the first (I'll warn you of this one)-- that
I get bounced
mail because your box is full. There
is a Sakai site for assignments and grades.
No late materials will be accepted/graded.
Do not bring food into the teleconference center. You may bring a beverage only if it has a small, sealable, lid. Please
do not use tobacco products in class. I am distracted by their use and
will insist that you leave if you persist. Electronic devices may not be used in class. This includes laptop computers. If you wish to take notes, you'll need paper and writing instrument. Use of electronics will meet with suggestion that you leave. All students
are responsible to the same syllabus schedule, regardless of outside or
BU-sponsored activities. I only accept materials early by agreement.
I do not use text messaging, so one student each day will be identified as the "designated emergency text message monitor" and will be asked to leave their cell phone on for this purpose. You must be registered with BU to serve. Please help me identify this person in a timely fashion each day.
All students are responsible to the same syllabus schedule, regardless of outside or BU-sponsored activities. I only accept materials early by agreement before the due date. Those with documented university-sponsored activities or illness MAY NOT reserve their three "misses" using those excuses. Absences in addition to the 3 must be thoroughly documented and arrangements made BEFORE THE CLASS IN QUESTION in order to qualify for exception. I expect ALL students to be able to function within the 3 "free" absences.
Students with BU-certified learning disabilities should contact me immediately.
Please do not call my home (672-5878) after 8pm at night. I am often
in my office (GCC 315; 677-2378). Official office hours: Tues: 10:30-11:30; Thurs: 1:30-2:30 and by appointment. My e-mail address
is <ell@bradley.edu>; AIM & skype: dredleelam; Second Life: Professor Beliveau
Policy
regarding e-mail communication about grades:
As a matter of the Interactive Media Program's policy to protect student privacy
and in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,
questions and concerns regarding grades must be presented in person or
in a written letter. Instructors will not respond to questions and concerns
Policy regarding student absence due to an illness:
When missing classes and related assignments due to an illness, it is
the student's responsibility to provide a document issued by a medical
authority to verify the student's absence due to illness, unless the Office
of the Associate Provost for Student Affairs informs an instructor of
the basis for the student's absence. Instructors will not call the Health
Center or any other source to verify the student's reason for absence.
Plagiarism merits an "F" on the activity and disciplinary action. DON'T copy each other's work and DO document sources properly.
Professor Baron does not give out free legal advice. Don't ask him about personal legal business unless you intend to hire him. You may check issues with me; though not a lawyer, I can often give you a "read" as whether you need to hire one.
Requirements:
Teleconference Center Entry Ticket. 300 points.
After the first day, attendance credit for class requires submission of a brief reading summary of the day's assignment. No ticket or attendance (both) no credit for attendance, no exceptions. Students must be present and sign in during the class in order to get credit for the ticket/day. Each ticket will be graded for quality. The summary should be posted to the Sakai Forums by 11am the day of class. Be sure to clearly label the summary with specification of the material it covers. Improperly labeled files will not be credited. You may miss 3 of these during the term (doing them all and perfect attendance gets you 3 tickets as extra credit)
One 15-page paper. 200 points total.
Full sentence, documented, outline due ; documented rough draft due , final due Paper presents the history and philosophy of, and current status in, the development of one area of interst--as it relates to computational communication and/or Interactive Media-- according to a random drawing, later in the term: copyrights; patents; trademarks; trade secrets; trade dress; url commerce; protection of computer software; unfair competition legislation; works made for hire; fair use; defamation of character; rights of privacy (specific to IP, not privacy in general); rights surrounding publicity; peer-to-peer file sharing; international IP; IP in virtual worlds. The paper should include a brief history of the topic as well as specific application to current computational communication and/or multimedia issues. Every paper must use section headings and sub-headings (in all three versions). This is a state of the art literature review, not an opinion piece. The documented first draft =75 points; final paper=125. Late papers (at each step) face 25% reduction in value per 24 hour period after the start of class on the day due.
Three Examinations. 300 total, 100 points each.
Exam 1 over McLeod; Exam 2 over text course concepts and legislative developments; Final Exam (final) over IP case law.
Each student must establish an "Current events in IP law in New Media" blog (send me the URL by 9-1). Post two course-relevant applications (2008 or later) to current events each week (excluding the first). The comments must illustrate the topics we are covering and be posted within a week on each side of the date the topic was covered. Post the comments no later than 3PM each Friday (except week 1). Provide links to the relevant material and back to each week's worth of comments as a single "set" (one set per week, with two blog items per set). Your comments should (1) briefly review the aspects of the incident that you are discussing (and link to the original), and (2) make specific connections between course material (lecture, cases, text readings) and the incident. Be sure to include specific reference(s) (page number or lecture dates/topics) to the course material to which you are applying the material.
Grading: Papers [200], Exams [300], Blog [200], Entry Tickets [300]
A: 100%-88.5% B: 88.4-78.5 C: 78.4-68.5 D: 68.4-58.5 F: > 58.5
Flexible Schedule
{subject to revision with notice}
August
Assignment for 9/1:
September
1 [day two] Introduction to intellectual property issues in the new
Assignment for 9/3: Introduction p. 16-27.
3 [day 3] [Baron 2]:Overview of the legal process in IP law cases.
Assignment for 9/8: Free for a fee, Chapter 1, "Copyright", p. 29-55.
8 [day 4] Introduction to Copyright
Assignment for 9/10:
10 [day 5] McCloud, Chapter 2 "Copyright and the Folk Music Tradition"
Assignment for 9/15: McLeod, Chapter 3
15 [day 6] McCloud, Chapter 3 "Copyright, Authorship and African-American Culture"
Assignment for 9/17: Free for a fee, Chapter 1, p. 55-67. [no more than 2 sentences of summary per case, 58-67--digital cases only]; Review the summary of DMCA [no written summary needed].
17 [day 7] Copyright cases, especially new media cases.
Assignment for 9/22: [no more than 1/2 page single spaced review for each case]
MDY Industries, LLC, vs. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.; and Vivendi Games, Inc.; Viacom v. YouTube (you may base your summary on the review of US law and this case [skip the Australia part] in O'Brien's analytical article or on the case document; Capitol v. Thomas [Jury slaps Thomas; Closing Arguments; ] RIAA v. Tannenbaum; both sides of the "dmca/copyright safe harbor provisions" ["Online retailer isn't liable for user comments"; "Web hosters must pay 32M for contributing to trademark infringement"]
22 [day 8] [Baron 3] Copyright and DMCA cases
Assignment for 9/24: Free for a fee, Chapter 2, "Three Copyright Issues"
24 [day 9]Free for a fee, Chapter 2, "Three Copyright Issues"
Assignment for 9/29: Free for a fee, Chapter 3, "Patents," through legislative developments
29 [day 10] Patents
Assignment for 10/1:Free for a fee, Chapter 3, "Patents," judicial developments and McLeod, Chapter 5
October
1 [day 11]
Assignment for 10/6:
Assignment for 10/8: Free for a fee, Chapter 4, "Trademarks," through "Special Trademark Issues in New Media".
Assignment for 10/15: McLeod Chapter 4
Fall break Oct 10-13
15 [day 14]
Assignment for 10/20:
20 [day 15] [Baron 5] Trademark cases
Rights of Publicity
Assignment for 10/22: Free for a fee, Chapter 5, "Trade Secrets," through new media cases.
midterm grades due from instructors Oct 21
22 [day 16] Trade Secrets
SOLUTIONS, INC., and BIAMP SYSTEMS CORPORATION; TACO BELL CORPORATION, v. CHIAT/DAY INC.; CENVEO CORP. v. SOUTHERN GRAPHIC SYSTEMS, INC., MIKE AUSTIN, SHAWN AUSTIN, PAUL PEDERSON, EMILY RYAN, and SUSAN SPEARS
27 [day 17] [Baron 6] Trade Secret Cases & NDAs/Non-competes
29 [day 18] Torts
November
3 [day 19][Baron 7]
Assignment for 11/5: McLeod Ch. 6 & 7
5 [day 20] McLeod Ch. 6 & 7
10[day 21] Exam 1: McLeod
Assignment for 11/12: Paper outline
12 [day 22] Trial Graphix; Paper outline due
Assignment for 11/17: Free for a fee, Chapter 7, "International IP Law"
17 [day 23] International IP Law
Assignment for 11/19:Mardas v. New York Times Company: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2008/3135.html; Free Speech Protection Act of 2008 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.5814:
Last day to drop a class with W, Nov. 18
19 [day 24] [Baron 8]
Assignment for 11/24: Free for a fee, Chapter 8, "Digital Rights Management"
24 [day 25] DRM; Rough Draft of Final Paper Due today
Assignment for 12/1:Cunningham v. McMahon;20th Century Fox v. Cablevision.pdf
Thanksgiving break Nov. 25-29
December
1 [day 26] [Baron 9]
Assignment for 12/3: Free for a fee, Chapter 9, "Toward Tomorrow, Today: IP Law in Virtual Worlds"
Completed Final Paper Due before 12 pm, Sunday December 6
3 [day 27] IP in virtual worlds and beyond
8 [day 28]EXAM 2: IP law, general concepts and legislative developments
11, 2:30-4:30: FINAL EXAM: cases
