This seminar is intended for students who are already familiar with the main contours of intellectual-property law and would like to explore the subject further. We will examine in depth a series of topics that, in recent years, have proven especially controversial or troublesome: traditional knowledge; the right of publicity; intellectual-property protection for fashion; fair use; possible solutions to the ongoing crisis in the entertainment industry; the relationship between intellectual property and freedom of speech; exhaustion; extralegal IP norms; and the relationship between IP and business strategy.
Each student will be expected to participate in the discussion of these issues and to write a short research paper addressing an aspect of one of them. Group projects are encouraged. There will be no exam.
For more information about this course visit the Harvard Law School Course Catalog