3.0

Average Course Rating

This course will examine various legal and policy issues presented by the tremendous growth in computer technology, especially the Internet. The rights that various parties have with respect to creating, modifying, using, distributing, storing, and copying digital data will be explored. The concurrent responsibilities, and potential liabilities, of those parties will also be addressed. The course will focus on intellectual property issues, especially copyright law, and other legal and economic considerations related to the use and management of digital data. Copyright law and its role within the framework of intellectual property law will be presented in a historical context with an emphasis on its applicability to emerging-technology issues. Specifically, the treatment of various works, such as music, film, and photography that were traditionally, analog in nature will be analyzed with respect to their treatment in the digital domain; works that are by their nature digital, such as computer software, will also be analyzed. The current state of U.S. copyright law will be presented, as will relevant international treaties and foreign laws. The goal of the course is to provide those involved or interested in digital rights management with a general awareness of the rights and obligations associated with maintaining and distributing digital data. (This course will be taught in Washington, DC and video-cast on Homewood Campus.)