Leader: Mr David Lindsay

Offered

City (Melbourne) Term 2 2008 (Evening)

Synopsis

The branch of intellectual property law which protects literary and artistic creations, films, sound recordings, broadcasts and published editions of works. Areas of difficulty and areas of contemporary and emerging importance, including computer software, databases and the challenges posed by convergence of communications and the Internet. New sui generis forms of protection, such as for databases and international and comparative materials.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, students should

1. have an enhanced appreciation of the policies and objectives underlying the law of copyright;
2. be able to comment critically on those policies and objectives and to relate them to current proposals for law reform;
3. have developed a detailed knowledge of the subject-matter that is eligible for protection under the laws, the requirements for obtaining such protection and its scope, once obtained;
4. be able to provide detailed and comprehensive advice to authors, designers and other creators on their rights and liabilities under the law of copyright to provide advice of equivalent depth to users of copyright material;
5. have a sound understanding of the operation and application of the rules governing the international protection of copyright, and
6. have a clear appreciation of the impact of technological change on the formulation and protection of the rights studied.

Assessment

Research paper (3,750 words): 50%
Take-home exam (3,750 words) or supervised exam (1.5 hours): 50%

Contact hours

2 hours per week