LAW 693 - Entertainment Law Litigation Seminar

Spring 2 Paul Marcus

This course will explore current issues involved in American entertainment law as litigated in our courts. The unifying features here will be problems that are current, practical, complex, and that involve constitutional, statutory, case law, and policy analysis. We will focus on four principal areas: protection of ideas by contract, defamation, rights of privacy (both public disclosure of private facts and false light), and the right of publicity. We will not consider in depth Copyright or Trademark Law. Enrollment is limited. Class will meet in one two-hour session each week. The first hour will be a discussion led by students on the assigned topic; I will then lead a further discussion of that topic for the second hour. At least two weeks prior to the designated oral assignment, students must meet with me to discuss the substance of their presentation, the format for it, and the preparation of reading materials and discussion questions for the other students in the class. Depending on class size, each student will prepare either two or three presentations as part of a group. There is no assigned text, readings will be distributed electronically throughout the semester. The grade for this class will be determined as follows: 50% for class presentation and class participation apart from the presentations, and 50% for a paper due the last day of class. There will be no final exam.