Spring term, Block H
M 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Mr. Christopher Bavitz
2 classroom credits LAW-92625A
2, 3, or 4 optional clinical credits Fall or Spring, or 2 Winter
LAW-92625C
This course explores a variety of legal issues relating to the creation, exploitation, and protection of music and other content. The seminar
focuses on traditional legal regimes and business models and the ways in which new technologies (particularly the evolution of digital media and the Internet) have affected legal and business strategies involved in
the making and distribution of content. The course's primary emphases
are music and the ways in which legal principles manifest themselves in
practice in the music industry. The seminar builds off a discussion of
music rights to address issues surrounding content rights in other
contexts (e.g., news media), and it reviews the ways in which
traditional concepts and practices in this area are challenged by and
evolving in the digital world. The course balances discussions of
big-picture doctrinal, policy, and theoretical considerations with a
focus on day-to-day legal and business practices and specific skills
(transactional, client counseling, and litigation) that are relevant to
practitioners in this area. A prior course or other background in
copyright law would be useful but is not required.
Students who would like to participate in the optional clinical must
enroll through clinical registration. Clinical placements are with the
Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
Please refer to the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs website (http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical) for clinical registration dates, early add/drop deadlines, and other
relevant information.