No pre-requisites are required.

This course studies the rules that govern protection of novel expressive works - from movies to music to novels to cartoons. It first examines the history, meaning, and theoretical justifications of copyright. Next, the course studies the prerequisites to obtain copyright protection for a work, the entitlements conveyed by copyright, how one infringes those entitlements, and defenses to infringement, including fair use. The class looks at the gradual extension of copyright's term and the decline of formalities (such as marking a copy with the copyright symbol) over the doctrine's history in the United States. It considers three industries - software, music, and the Internet - in detail, before closing with considerations of remedies, pre-emption, and international law.

Take-home exam.