Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM075: Copyright Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of the module is to provide you with an understanding of the development of copyright law, and how this explains the operation of copyright law today. We will assess current case law and statute through a critical lens in terms of the alleged purposes of copyright. The course is designed so as to make you think critically about the function of copyright within society, so that you can understand the broader cultural complexities involved.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the legal framework regulating stakeholders, namely right holders and users of copyright materials;
2. Demonstrate critical and comprehensive understanding of the way in which the copyright balance operates, with reference to both the theoretical and historical concerns;
3. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the proposals for copyright reform, and the process by which these have come about;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Demonstrate a high level of ability to develop, apply and critically assess international legal arguments, using a wide range of appropriate primary materials and advanced scholarship;
5. Demonstrate critical and systematic understanding of the relationship between the various forms of regulation, from statute through to norms;
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical justifications for copyright and their application within statute and case law;
Personal and Key Skills7. Demonstrate the ability to process and evaluate effectively a substantial body of complex and sometimes contradicting legal and non-legal information; and
8. Demonstrate the ability to be able to take their learning of the law and apply it to real life situations.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

  • Bainbridge, Intellectual Property Law, 9th edition (Longman, 2012).
  • Bently, L. and Sherman, B., Intellectual Property Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
  • Copinger and Skone-James, Copinger & Skone-James on Copyright, 16th edition (2010) available on Westlaw
  • Cornish, Llewelyn & Aplin, Intellectual Property 7th edition (Sweet and Maxwell, 2010)
  • Deazley, R. Rethinking Copyright (EE, 2006)
  • Edward Samuels, The Illustrated Story of Copyright (St Martins Press, 2000)
  • Flint, Fitzpatrick and Thorne, A User’s Guide to Copyright, 6th edition, (2006)
  • Holyoak & Torremans, Intellectual Property Law, 5th edition, (OUP, 2008)
  • Jessica Litman, Digital Copyright: Protecting Intellectual Property on the Internet (Prometheus Books, 2001)
  • Lawrence Lessig, The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World (Random House, 2001)
  • Lyman Ray Patterson, Copyright in Historical Perspective (Vanderbilt University Press, 1968)
  • MacQueen H., Waelde C., and Laurie G., Contemporary Intellectual Property (OUP, 2008).
  • Mark Rose, Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright (Harvard University Press, 1993).
  • Peter Drahos, A Philosophy of Intellectual Property (Dartmouth, 1996).
  • Richard H. Chused, A Copyright Anthology: The Technology Frontier (Anderson Publishing Co, 1998).
  • Rosemary J Coombe, The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties: Authorship, Appropriation, and the Law (Duke University Press, 1998)
  • Tritton, G., (2002) Intellectual Property in Europe (London: Sweet & Maxwell).
  • Vaidhyanathan, (2001) Copyrights and Copywrongs. The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity (New York: New York University Press).
  • Van De Graaf, E. S. (1997) Patent law and Modern Biotechnology (Rotterdam: Gouda Quint).
  • Vitoria and Prescott, Copyright and Designs, 4th edition, Butterworths (2011)