Note: The credit breakdown for this course is as follows: three total credits -- two classroom credits and one writing credit.
This course is designed for students who are interested in deepening their knowledge of copyright law and gaining experience with law teaching. Each student in the course will be a Teaching Fellow for CopyrightX, an online copyright course taught by Prof. Fisher to roughly 500 students worldwide. The weekly meetings of the course have two functions: to provide an advanced seminar on copyright; and to provide students guidance and support as they learn to teach.
CopyrightX closely parallels the HLS course on Copyright. Like the HLS students, the CopyrightX students learn the essential elements of both doctrine and theory by watching videotaped lectures prepared by Prof. Fisher, reading cases and secondary materials, and watching webcast special events in which guest speakers examine controversial current topics. In addition, each CopyrightX student participates in a 25-person seminar led by a Teaching Fellow.
Each Teaching Fellow has two primary responsibilities: to conduct each week an 80-minute live online discussion that uses case studies to refine his or her students’ understanding of the pertinent laws and policies; and to draft or revise (at some point during the semester) one case study that will be employed both by Prof. Fisher and by the other Teaching Fellows to facilitate discussions. In addition, the Teaching Fellows will meet once a week with Prof. Fisher to debate the issues addressed in the lecture and readings for that week and to exchange ideas concerning possible ways of teaching their own seminars. During most weeks, this meeting will be held from 10:20 to 11:40 am on Wednesdays. On the few occasions when the HLS Copyright course meets on Wednesdays, Teaching Copyright will meet from 7 to 9 pm on Tuesday evening.
Additional information concerning CopyrightX and the role of the Teaching Fellows can be found by visiting copyx.org or by emailing copyrightx[at]cyber.harvard.edu. During the first week of October, there will be an informational session, in which Prof. Fisher will describe this venture in more detail and respond to questions.
Prerequisite: Teaching Copyright is open to Harvard Law School students who either have already taken a course on Copyright at HLS or will be enrolled in such a course during the Spring of 2015. Other students can enroll only with the permission of the instructor.