syllabus

Class 1 (6/5):  Copyright and New Technologies

Readings:

• Chapter 2 of The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age (2000)

• Handout 1:

  • White-Smith Publishing Co. v. Apollo Co., 209 U.S. 1 (1908)

  • Herbert v. Shanley, 242 U.S. 591 (1917)

  • Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc., 392 U.S. 390 (1968)

  • Mark A. Lemley, Dealing with Overlapping Copyrights on the Internet, 22 U. Dayton L. Rev. 547 (1997)

Class 2 (6/6):  From Sony to Grokster

Readings:

• Handout 2:

  • Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)

  • RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., 180 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 1999)

  • UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc., 92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)

  • A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)

  • In re Aimster Copyright Litigation, 334 F.3d 643 (7th Cir. 2003)

  • MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913 (2005)

Class 3 (6/7):  Global File-sharing Problems

Readings:

• Handout 3:

  • Graeme W. Austin, Importing Kazaa—Exporting Grokster, 22 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 577 (2006) (discussing Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd v. Sharman License Holdings Ltd. (Kazaa), 65 IPR 289 (Australia))

  • BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 430 F.3d 888 (7th Cir. 2005) (United States)

  • Richard Owens, TRIPs and the Fairness in Music Arbitration: The Repercussions, 25 Eur. Intell. Prop. Rev. 49 (2003)

• BMG Canada Inc. v. John Doe [2005] FCA 193 (Canada)

• Chan Nai Ming v. HKSAR, FACC No. 3 of 2007 (Hong Kong)

• Peter K. Yu, An Introduction to the EU Information Society Directive, Gigalaw.com (Nov. 2001)

• Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Harmonisation of Certain Aspects of Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society (June 2001) Skim and Bring to Class

Classes 4-5 (6/9):  Modest Proposals

Due:  Response Paper 1

Please write a two-page double-spaced paper in response to one of the sections of the HKSAR government consultation paper on "Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment".

Readings:

• William W. Fisher, Promises to Keep ch. 6 (Stanford University Press, 2004)

• Peter K. Yu, P2P and the Future of Private Copying, 76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 653 (2005) Read Parts III only

Further Readings: (Not Required in Class)

• Raymond Shih Ray Ku, The Creative Destruction of Copyright: Napster and the New Economics of Digital Technology, 69 U. Chi. L. Rev. 263 (2002)

• Neil W. Netanel, Impose a Noncommercial Use Levy to Allow Free Peer-to-Peer File Sharing, 17 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 1 (2003)

• Electronic Frontier Foundation, A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing (2004)

• Lydia Pallas Loren, Untangling the Web of Music Copyrights, 53 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 673 (2003)

• Lior Jacob Strahilevitz, Charismatic Code, Social Norms, and the Emergence of Cooperation on the File-Swapping Networks, 89 Va. L. Rev. 505 (2003)

• John Borland, Napster to Give Students Music, CNET News.com (Nov. 6, 2003)

• John Borland, Colleges Explore Legal Net Music Setups, CNET News.com (Aug. 1, 2003)

• John Kelsey & Bruce Schneier, The Street Performer Protocol and Digital Copyrights, First Monday, June 7, 1999

• David Kushner, Tipping for Tunes, RollingStone.com (Mar 7, 2001)

• Evan Hansen, Simon & Schuster Offers Net-only Stephen King Novel, CNET News.com (Mar. 8, 2000)

• Sandeep Junnarkar, Horrors for Publishing Industry: King e-book Cracked, CNET News.com (Mar. 31, 2000)

• Gwendolyn Mariano, Stephen King Puts "The Plant" on Ice, CNET News.com (Nov. 28, 2000)

• Kevin Maney, Apple’s iTunes Might Not Be Only Answer to Ending Piracy, USA Today, Jan. 21, 2004, at 3B

• Rep. Howard L. Berman, The Truth About the Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act: Why Copyright Owner Self-help Must Be Part of the P2P Piracy Solution, FindLaw’s Writ: Legal Commentary (Oct. 1, 2002)

Class 6 (6/12):  Digital Rights Management

Due:  Paper Topic (no more than 100 words)

Readings:

• Peter K. Yu, Anticircumvention and Anti-anticircumvention, 84 Denver U. L. Rev. 13 (2006) Read Part II only

• 17 U.S.C. § 1201 (2004) Skim and Bring to Class

• Handout 6:

  • Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001)

  • United States v. Elcom Ltd., 203 F. Supp. 2d 1111 (N.D. Cal. 2002)

  • Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., 387 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 2004)

Class 7 (6/13):  Criminalisation and ISP Safe Harbor

Readings:

• Peter K. Yu, The Escalating Copyright Wars, 32 Hofstra L. Rev. 907 (2004) Read Part I only

• 17 U.S.C. § 512 (2004) Skim and Bring to Class

• Handout 7:

  • Mark A. Lemley & R. Anthony Reese, Reducing Digital Copyright Infringement Without Restricting Innovation, 56 Stan. L. Rev. 1345 (2004)

  • RIAA v. Verizon Internet Services, 351 F.3d 1229 (D.C. Cir. 2003)

  • Jennifer M. Urban & Laura Quilter, Efficient Process or "Chilling Effects"? Takedown Notices Under Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 22 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 621 (2006)

Class 8 (6/14):  Hong Kong Government Consultation

Readings:

• Com., Indus. & Tech. Bureau, HKSAR Gov't, Copyright Protection in the Digital Environment

• Peter K. Yu, Digital Copyright Reform in Hong Kong: Promoting Creativity Without Sacrificing Free Speech (2007)

Further Readings: (Not Required in Class)

• Charles Mok, Stimulating Hong Kong's Digital Creative Industry, Computerworld Hong Kong, May 1, 2007

• Peter K. Yu, The Digital Divide, South China Morning Post, May 10, 2007, at A15

Classes 9-10 (6/16):  Presentations

Due:  Response Paper 2

Please write a two-page double-spaced paper commenting on one of the modest proposals discussed in classes 4-5 on 9 June.

First Draft Due:  June 29, 2007 (Optional)

Final Paper Due:  July 6, 2007

Please submit the final paper via email to peter_yu@msn.com AND send a hard copy by July 9 (post marked if sent by post) to:

Ms Mimi Li
Department of Law
The University of Hong Kong
4/F, K.K. Leung Building
Pokfulam Road
HONG KONG