UNSW LAW : LAWS3039 - Law and the Culture Industries

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LLM Specialisation

This course may be counted towards LLM specialisation in Media, Communications and Information Technology Law.

Units of Credit: 8

Description

This course considers the regulation of cyberspace. In 2008 there will be a particular consideration of future directions for the entertainment industries: Arts, Film, Broadcasting, Music, Gaming and Telecommunications. Innovation and technological convergence creates opportunities for new and enhanced leisure and social activities. These developments raise controversies in the industries affecting old media regulation, intellectual property laws, cultural policy, free speech, content regulation, competition and innovation policy. Regulation via national law reform, international treaties, industry bodies, industry standards, opinion makers, and technologies of control (digital rights management DRM, surveillance, tracking) are considered.

Information for Current UNSW Law Students

Course Outline

Objectives

A candidate who has successfully completed this subject should:

Describe the challenges of regulation in this area
Identify the various pressures on the development of regulation
Assess possible future directions and conflicts
Demonstrate the above analytical knowledge and skills in relation to a case study

Main Topics

Overview of media regulation, innovation policy, intellectual property law, trade barriers, global policies affecting the internet and the entertainment industries
Technology as Liberation: the promise of technological convergence, mass access on demand to digitised content, high interactivity, freedom to create, innovate, distribute and trade
Regulation by global industry and technical standards
Innovation as Regulatory Disruption: Can IP, IT and Media law and the courts keep up with the pace of change?
The rights of user generated content: YouTube, MySpace, Blogs, FaceBook, Flickr, MySpace, Wikipedia, Google Library,
Big Media content online: entertainment franchises
Consumer Rights, Property and virtual property rights
Globalisation and information society policy
Regional approaches to cultural and telecommunications policy