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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Intellectual Property Law: Copyright and Related Rights (LAWS11258)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe purpose of this course is to consider the law relating to copyright, design rights, database right, and performers' rights, focussing on European and UK law.

Recent years have witnessed an expansion in the scope of intellectual property rights. Having examined the institutional setting in which policy is formed, the reach and impact of copyright and related rights within the UK will be analysed. The teaching weeks will also highlight areas of particular topicality.
Course description The course aims to equip students to understand, apply, analyse and critique the law pertaining to copyright, design rights, database right and performers' rights in the UK and at a European level.

The course will:
1. Highlight the institutional framework in which policy is formulated and law developed in the areas of copyright, design rights and related rights
2. Consider the impact of international and European policy making on the scope of these rights
3. Explore how copyright, design rights and related rights may be infringed
4. Consider the interests that the law protects and investigate the extent to which it is successful in balancing those interests.

The course focusses on the substantive law in relation to such IP rights and students are expected to read and fully engage with doctrinal/black letter law (primary materials in the form of statutes, directives and case law) in addition to legal scholarship in the area.

This course is taught at Masters level and the emphasis is on independent learning and student participation. During teaching, students are expected to contribute to discussions and to take responsibility for their own learning. The reading materials which are referred to are by no means exhaustive and students are encouraged to undertake independent research.

It is emphasised that intellectual property law is a complex and broad-ranging subject and the reading lists that will be provided for each week will only represent a fraction of the material that is available on any topic. Students undertaking the course will be expected to carry out independent personal research for their assignments over and beyond the issues and materials discussed each week.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Please contact the online learning team at law.online@ed.ac.uk
Additional Costs Students must have regular and reliable access to the Internet.
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Appreciate the variety of institutions involved in the field of copyright and related rights and understand their role and functions in policy making.
  2. Identify the rights in practice, explain their scope and indicate when and how those rights may be infringed.
  3. Critically assess the development of the law and how changes affect different interests.
  4. Explain current developments in the law and contribute in an informed manner to ongoing debate as to the proper role of these rights.
Reading List
The set textbook for this course is: A Brown, S Kheria, J Cornwell, and M Iljadica, Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy, Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2019.

A detailed list of key resources will be available at the start of the course.

If you have a law degree from outside the European Union or if you have a non-law background, and as such you are not familiar with law and legal process in the European Union, then please read relevant parts on European Community law in I, McLeod, Legal Method, Palgrave Macmillan Law Masters, 9th edition, 2013; and, also refer to brief guides like Andreas Staab, The European Union Explained, Indiana University Press, 2nd edition, 2008.

The teaching on this course will assume that all students are familiar with the functioning and basics of European Union law, as well as the interaction between EU and domestic national legal systems.
Additional Information
Course URL https://edin.ac/2ZpT19M
Graduate Attributes and Skills Students will develop their skills and abilities in:

a) Research and Enquiry, through e.g. selecting and deploying appropriate research techniques;

b) Personal and Intellectual Autonomy, e.g. developing the ability to independently assess the relevance and importance of primary and secondary sources;

c) Communication, e.g. skills in summarising and communicating information and ideas effectively in written form;

d) Personal Effectiveness, e.g. working constructively as a member of an online community;

Students will also develop their technical/practical skills, throughout the module, e.g. in articulating, evidencing and sustaining a line of argument, and engaging in a convincing critique of another's arguments.
Special Arrangements This course is taught by online learning.
Additional Class Delivery Information This course is taught by online learning.
KeywordsIntellectual Property,Copyright,Design rights,Database right,Performers' rights
Contacts
Course organiserDr Smita Kheria
Tel:
Email: smita.kheria@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk
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