syllabus

Reading Assignments

Class 1 (8/19): Fixation and Originality

• Casebook 47–62

• Optional Comics: Keith Aoki, James Boyle & Jennifer Jenkins, Tales from the Public Domain: BOUND BY LAW? (2008) (optional)

Class 2 (8/21): Originality (Cont’d) and the Idea/Expression Dichotomy

• Casebook 62–68; 80–100

Note: There will be no classes on 8/26 and 8/28 (Classes Rescheduled to 11/8-9) and 9/2 (Labor Day).

Class 3 (9/4): Derivative Works and Compilations

• Casebook 100–17; 123–25

Class 4 (9/9): Authorship

• Casebook 131–39; 146–52

Class 5 (9/11): Authorship (Cont’d) and Useful Articles

• Casebook 160–67; 177–93

Class 6 (9/16): Computer Software

• Casebook 208–27

Class 7 (9/18): The Reproduction Right

• Casebook 245–47; 253–66; 272–79

Class 8 (9/23): The Derivative Work Right

• Casebook 311–24, 328–37

Class 9 (9/25): The Distribution Right

• Casebook 345–61

Class 10 (9/30): Communication to the Public by Performance or Display

• Casebook 247–51; 378–95; 398–409

Note: There will be no class on 10/2 (Class Rescheduled to 11/7).

Class 11 (10/7): Copyright in Musical Works and Sound Recordings

• Casebook 413–22; 424–33

Class 12 (10/9): Fictional Characters and Moral Rights

• Casebook 337–44; 455–74

Note: There will be no classes on 10/14 and 10/16 (Fall Break).

Class 13 (10/21): Fair Use

• Casebook 489–512

Class 14 (10/23): Fair Use (Cont’d)

• Casebook 528–50

Class 15 (10/28): Copyright Infringement

• Casebook 575–602

Class 16 (10/30): Device Manufacturers and Liability for Inducement

• Casebook 422–24; 550–58; 602–17

Class 17 (11/4): Formalities and Duration

• Casebook 661–91

Class 18 (11/7 at noon in Room 202): Guest Lecture

Guest Speaker: Dr. Emma Perot, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago)

Classes 19-20 (11/8-9):  8th Annual Texas A&M Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable

You are required to attend two sessions of the event at your preferred time as part of the make-up sessions. If you will be away this weekend or anticipate challenges attending this event, you are welcome to attend two sessions of the 2024 Annual Congress of the Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues on September 6-7 (or one session of each of these events).

Class 21 (11/11 at noon in Room 204): Renewals and Terminations of Transfers

• Handout

• Casebook 695–709

Class 22 (11/11): Artificial Intelligence and Copyright Law

• Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Creation, and the Future Path of Copyright Law, 50 BYU L. Rev. (forthcoming 2025)

Class 23 (11/13): Modes of Transfer

• Casebook 715–41

Class 24 (11/18): Statutory Overview and Review Session

Syllabus (Fall 2023)

Syllabus (Fall 2022)

Syllabus (Fall 2021)

Syllabus (Fall 2020)

Syllabus (Fall 2019)

Syllabus (Fall 2018)

Syllabus (Fall 2017)

Syllabus (Fall 2016)

Syllabus (Fall 2015)