Module: LAW6101-20 Entertainment, Media & IP Law

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor:  Steve Goulton

Module Tutor Contact Details: s.goulton@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:  

This module looks at a range of contemporary issues related to intellectual property and entertainment and media.  It will cover a diverse range of topics from forms of legal protection for content producers/product creators to crimes committed by those that report on others’ lives.  It is particularly interesting in that it draws significantly on both English & Welsh law and that of EU and international law, and considers specific existing substantive provisions as well as broader legal principles like human rights and ethics.  As a fast-moving area of law, it also enjoys both historical and very modern elements; often requiring the student to take existing, older provisions and creatively applying them to modern phenomenon.

It will be of interest to anyone who has an interest in products, perhaps from an engineering perspective, or other content (music, film, art or written works, perhaps) or an interest in journalism, or in other forms of media like broadcasting and advertising.

In this module, you will be able to demonstrate the following graduate attributes:

• Will be able to understand and manage complexity, diversity and change;

• Will be creative:  Able to innovate and to solve problems by working across disciplines as professional or artistic practitioners;

• Will be digitally literate:  Able to work at the interface of creativity and technology;

• Will be creative thinkers, doers and makers.

2.Outline syllabus:

Topics covered might include:

• Privileges and restrictions on those who report on others – human rights, press freedom, privacy, defamation, issues with juveniles, reporting on proceedings in court, contempt, injunctions, ethics and self- and other-regulation;

• Information governance – freedom of information, data subjects and data rights, other data protection;

• Intellectual property – copyright, designs, trademarks, patents, goodwill etc., protections, processes, IP as a business;

• Modern phenomena – things like super-injunctions, the use of drones, the ‘dark web’ and internet governance;

…and how the courts and legal system, generally, regulates all of the above.

3.Teaching and learning activities:

You will be taught by way of 1x 1-hour lecture and 1x 2-hour seminar each week.  Lectures will introduce and explore substantive subjects as specified above.  Seminars will include a variety of activities including class discussion, scenario analyses, role-play, written and research exercises and other formative activities.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Applied IP report (3,750 words)

• % Weighting: 75%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: Exam

• Description: Exam (1½ hours)

• % Weighting: 25%