Copyright Law | Professor Michael J. Madison | University of Pittsburgh School of Law
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Course description from the Pitt Law School catalog, and a note on the goals and purposes of the course: Why do we need copyright law? The class will explain the role of copyright law within intellectual property law as a whole. It will cover the constitutional and statutory requirements for copyright protection; the rights and remedies that copyright law provides for authors; the workings of the “fair use” doctrine and other special statutory privileges that copyright law provides for the public; and the intersection of copyright with state law, with other federal intellectual property doctrines, and with international intellectual property regimes. Though the course is first and foremost about understanding the principal rules and policies of copyright, it necessarily includes learning a lot about some other things--reading and interpreting statutes; commercial law and its international dimensions; and federalism, to name three. Even the briefest look at legal headlines in recent years (months? weeks?!) suggests the central importance of copyright concepts to the evolution of the Internet. I hope that the class will provide a basis for understanding whether and how existing legal regimes should apply to this incredible technology.
Assignment for the first day of class, Monday, January 8, 2001: Please read and be prepared to discuss pages 1-56 of the Casebook, which consists of the bulk of Chapter 1, "The Concept of Copyright."
Class meeting information: Class will meet on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. On Mondays, we will meet in Room 111 (where we can use the technological bells and whistles of that room); on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we will meet in Room G12.
Contacting me: My office is located in Room 303. My office hours are on Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. I would be happy to meet with you at other times, by appointment or (if I am in the office) on a drop-in basis. My e-mail address is madison@law.pitt.edu and my telephone number is (412) 648-7855.
Course Materials: Robert A. Gorman and Jane C. Ginsburg, Copyright: Cases and Materials (Fifth Ed. 1999) ["Casebook"] and Madison's Supplemental Cases ["Supp."]. The Supplemental Cases are available exclusively on-line, at http://www.law.pitt.edu/madison/copyright/supplement2001.htm. In addition, you are required to be conversant with all of the provisions of the Copyright Act referred to or discussed in the Casebook or in class. The 2000 Statutory Appendix ["softcover Supp.'] prepared by Professors Gorman and Ginsburg is available at the Book Center. You are free to use that Appendix, or, alternatively, to use any statutory compilation that includes the 1976 Copyright Act and relevant international treaties and conventions, provided that whatever source you rely on includes amendments enacted through and including July 1, 2000. More recent amendments, to the extent that they are relevant, will be provided by me. The softcover Supp. includes some supplemental reading material in addition to the text of the Copyright Act. Where applicable, I will note where you should refer to the softcover Supp. instead of and/or in addition to the supplemental cases available on-line.
Class attendance, participation, and discussion: Shortly after classes begin, a class e-mail listserv will be set up to accommodate questions and discussion (and the occasional administrative announcement) that we do not have time to cover in class. I will send an introductory message to the class to let you know that the listserv is up and running. Because I may use the listserv from time to time for course-related announcements, monitoring the messages is required. In addition, each student is required to post at least one question, and at least one analytic response (100 words or more) to the listserv during the course of the semester, on topics relating to the course material.
Grading: Your grade will be based on a take-home examination, in a format to be determined.
Last edited: August 08, 2005