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LAW8720 International and Comparative Copyright Law

Semester 2, 2022 Online
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Law and Justice
Grading basis : Graded
Course fee schedule : /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite:(LAW5111 and LAW5112) or Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: LLBH or LLMC

Overview

The study of copyright law is important not only for legal practitioners, but also authors, artists, musicians, educators, students, researchers, software developers, visually impaired people and internet users. Technological advances and the advent of the Internet allow the creation, use and dissemination of copyright works that present challenges to basic copyright principles, and many countries made extensive changes and adaptions to their existing national copyright regimes to fit the digital environment in copyright and related rights. Copyright is largely influenced by trade agreements and international litigation that increasingly require an understanding of foreign copyright laws. This course is suitable for graduate law students who want to specialise in intellectual property and commercial law, and conduct complex research in this dynamic and constantly changing area of law.

This course addresses the fundamental principles of copyright law. It examines copyright legislation in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, and international instruments, free trade agreements, and treaties: the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, the Rome Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the Marrakesh Treaty. It considers copyright challenges in the networked digital environment; particularly the protection of digital works, limitations and exceptions, liability of intermediaries and online service providers (OSPs) and internet users, digital rights management (DRM), anti-circumvention rules and novel developments related to data mining and block-chain technologies. It also considers contemporary debates relating to access to knowledge (A2K), WIPO Development Agenda, creative commons (CC), protection of traditional knowledge (TK) and cultural expressions, relationship with human rights and sustainable development.

Introductory materials and classes will be available for students who have not previously studied intellectual property law.

Course learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. evaluate developments in chosen areas of international and comparative copyright law, and critically examine the relationship between those developments and contemporary theory or practice in copyright and authors’ rights systems (PO 1);
  2. demonstrate [explain and apply] advanced knowledge of the impact of international treaties or other legal systems on the substance, theory and practice of Australian copyright law (PO 2);
  3. undertake, interpret and evaluate research in international and comparative copyright law using advanced legal research methodologies and techniques (PO 3); and
  4. articulate advanced knowledge of international and comparative copyright law in written presentations (PO 4).

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. International copyright treaties and conventions 25.00
2. Exceptions and limitations to copyright 25.00
3. Copyright in the digital environment 25.00
4. The interaction of copyright with human rights, traditional knowledge and sustainable development 25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Goldstein, P, & Hugenholtz, B 2013, International Copyright Principles, Law and Practice, 3rd edn, Oxford, New York, United States.

Student workload expectations

To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.

Assessment details

Approach Type Description Group
Assessment
Weighting (%) Course learning outcomes
Assignments Written Planning document 1 No 10 1,2,3,4
Assignments Written Research (paper) 1 No 40 1,2,3,4
Assignments Written Planning document 2 No 10 1,2,3,4
Assignments Written Research (paper) 2 No 40 1,2,3,4
Date printed 10 February 2023