Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

Much of copyright law as enacted in the U.S. and in almost any other country is based on the provisions of multinational agreements and other international initiatives. One of the major objectives of this course will be to understand the driving force of international developments on the shape and structure of domestic copyright law. Fundamental changes domestic law and recent copyright decisions from the Supreme Court are directly tied to international law. A focus of the course will be the details of agreements, such as the Berne Convention and treaties overseen by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The course will examine the complex relationship between national priorities and the objectives of major international players, such as the World Trade Organization, as well as the growing role of the European Union in shaping worldwide copyright law. The course will embrace some examination of international litigation issues, and the growth of legal protections closely related to copyright that are emerging elsewhere in the world, such as database rights and protection of folklore and traditional knowledge. The "paper" for this course will actually be very short papers (few pages each) based on the readings.