All classes will be interactive and students are offered the opportunity to pursue inquiry-based learning. Students will work through electronic materials and attend a two-hour lecture discussing reform initiatives, international comparisons and recent cases. There will also be a policy-based seminar each week.

The course provides an overview of intellectual property law. It primarily provides an account of the main aspects of copyright law including:

• the history of copyright law
• the international copyright law conventions
• the theory of copyright law
• economic rights
• originality and database protection
• copyright subject matter
• infringement of copyright law and remedies
• the defence of fiar dealing and other exceptions to infringement
• ownership, licensing and ssignment
• technological protection measures, and electronic rights management
• moral rights, performers' rights, and the right of resale
• traditional konwledge and Indigenous cultural property
• the interacting between copyright law and other fields of intellectual property such as designs law

The course will consider the issues posed by an array of cultural fields - including literary works and fan fiction; databases and compilations; artistic works and appropriation; musical works and mash-ups; dramatic works and performance; television broadcasts and time-shifting devices, such as TiVo and iceTV; cinematograph films; computer programs and Sony Playstation games, and Indigenous art and performance.  It also explores a numbr of key policy themes - including the emergence of the public domain and the development of the Creative Commons; the impact of international treaties and conventions, such as the TRIPS Agreement, The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, and the proposed Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement; and the rise of internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo! and social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia.

A participant who has successfully completed this course should have:

• an understanding of the theories and rationales of copyright law
• a knowledge of current international  treaties affecting copyright law
• an appreciation of the principles and rules of copyright law in Australia, and the forms of rights management that are used
• a recognition of the problems which are developing in relation to particular fields of industry and creative endeavour
• a critical approach to evaluating the economic and social impact of policy reforms regarding copyright law
• an awareness of the interacting of copyright law with other regimes of intellectual property.

The proposed scheme of assessment for this course will involve three compulsory and non-redeemable components:

Seminar presentation - 8-11 minutes presentation plus 1000 word not (value 20%)
Research essay - 2000-2500 word essay (value 40%)
Examination - 1 hour examination (3 questions) (value 40%)

This course will involve weekly two-hour lectures, and one-hour seminars over the period of a semester. Students are expected to devote approximately ten hours overall per week to this course.

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.

Kathy Bowrey, Michael Handler, and Dianne Nicol, Australian Intellectual Property: Commentary, Law and Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

It is also essential that students have access to Australian intellectual property legislation and international treaties.  These Acts may be downloaded from www.comlaw.gov.au/ or www.austlii.edu.au/ or may be found in the Butterworths Intellectual Property Collection 2010 Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2010.

The preliminary reading required for this course will be available from the course home page at leat one week prior to the commencement of this course.

Students must be able to access lecture and seminar notes using Wattle.

Intellectual Property is generally regarded as an important subject within a law degree which has technology law specialisation.  However, because it deals with property rights information and expression it has a broad utility and should be equally stimulating for students interested in the arts, cultural studies and legal theory.  Intellectual Property would also be of interest to those with an information technology or science background.

It is anticipated that the undergraduate course Selected Topics in Intellectual Property LAWS2263 will focus, in particular, upon registration regimes of intellectual property - including patent law, trade mark law, and plant breeders' rights.  Other recommended courses for those interested in technology law include Climate Law LAWS2274, Information Technology Law LAWS2245, Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights LAWS2219.  For Juris Doctor and Masters students, the courses International Intellectual Property: The Development Agenda LAWS8136 and Media and Communications Law LAWS8172 are also recommended.