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Intellectual Property & Popular Culture (LAWS50128)
Graduate coursework level 5Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Summer Term
Associate Professor David Tan (Coordinator)
Email: law-aso@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 4475
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | Summer Term |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Intellectual Property & Popular Culture (IPPC) is designed to offer an interdisciplinary cultural studies perspective on the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights with a focus on the relevance of an understanding of cultural production and semiotic consumption to legal doctrine.
Contemporary culture in industrialised nations is characterised by a vibrant kaleidoscope of images and spectacles that permeate the fabric of everyday life, influencing consumption choices and political views, and providing meaningful materials out of which people may shape their own identities. It is in a hybrid mode as consumer-citizens that individuals participate to express freedom, choice and identity. The conceptual framework of cultural studies can help one better understand why certain cultural artifacts are universally popular and their significant impact within the environment they inhabit, and more importantly, can provide insights into how the law may respond in the context of this cultural milieu. In particular, this subject will examine the cultural and semiotic significance of celebrities (eg David Beckham, Rihanna), fictional characters (eg Superman, Mickey Mouse) and iconic status symbols (eg Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin).
IPPC uses relevant insights from cultural studies in a pragmatic manner to evaluate how an understanding of the contemporary production, circulation and consumption of such cultural products like celebrities, fictional literary characters and status symbols could ultimately assist in a more nuanced development of copyright, trademark and personality rights laws.
There is no prescribed textbook for this subject. Students will be referred to the foundational writings of Roland Barthes and Stuart Hall in semiotics and audience/media studies, the more recent works of star studies scholars like Richard Dyer and Graeme Turner, and the interdisciplinary IP legal scholarship of authors like Rosemary Coombe, Justin Hughes and David Tan. A comparative approach will be adopted to examine cultural themes in cases that involve the enforcement of IP rights to protect the celebrity personality, well-known fictional characters/movies/books/songs and iconic brands primarily drawn from the jurisdictions of New York, California, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia.
This course is designed for bothstudents who have previously taken modules in intellectual property (eg copyright, trademarks) and students who are exposed to intellectual property for the first time
The objectives of the subject IPPC are to:
- Introduce key intellectual property rights (IPR) that are relevant to pop culture and popular iconography that includes the celebrity personality, fashion brands, movies and music, with a focus on claims brought by IPR owners in the United States, Europe and Australia;
- Provide an interdisciplinary cultural studies perspective on the production, circulation and consumption of the celebrity personality and status symbols in contemporary society, and the relevance to the development of legal doctrine;
- Highlight the transnational similarities and differences in the protection of IPR relating to popular iconography, especially in relation to the influence of free speech constitutional provisions; and
- Examine, through the lens of cultural studies, the operation of four prominent causes of action in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, with selected references to other jurisdictions:
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- Copyright infringement;
- Trademark infringement and dilution;
- Right of publicity tort; and
- Passing off.
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Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of the subject IPPC, students will have:
- Acquired an advanced understanding of the key writings and insights from contemporary cultural studies on the production, circulation and consumption of cultural artifacts such as the celebrity personality, famous literary/dramatic/ musical/artistic works and status symbols in contemporary society;
- Gained an understanding of four relevant causes of action that are often used to enforce IPR relating to cultural artifacts today;
- Demonstrated an ability to apply an interdisciplinary cultural studies perspective in a pragmatic manner to analyse the development of legal doctrine in relation to IPR;
- Shown advanced skills in written analytical communication and legal problem-solving;
- Developed the capacity to identify the salient transnational similarities and differences in the protection of IPR relating to popular iconography, and be able to compare and critique legal concepts across different jurisdictions; and
- Augmented their specialised knowledge and skills to work more effectively in a multi-jurisdictional professional practice, undertake cross-jurisdictional research in an advanced academic setting or further graduate-level studies either in Australia or overseas.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Successful completion of all the below subjects:
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
LAWS50023 | Legal Method and Reasoning | Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50024 | Principles of Public Law | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50025 | Torts |
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
November (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
LAWS50026 | Obligations | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50027 | Dispute Resolution | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50028 | Constitutional Law | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50029 | Contracts | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
LAWS50031 | Legal Theory |
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
November (On Campus - Parkville)
|
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
- Class Participation (15%);
- 5,000 word Take Home Exam, due approximately two weeks after the teaching period (85%).
The due date of the above assessment will be available to students via the Assessment Schedule on the LMS Community.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- Summer Term
Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hours Total time commitment 140 hours Pre teaching start date 18 December 2017 Pre teaching requirements Students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 18 January 2018 to 31 January 2018 Last self-enrol date 4 December 2017 Census date 19 January 2018 Last date to withdraw without fail 24 January 2018 Assessment period ends 12 February 2018 Summer Term contact information
Associate Professor David Tan (Coordinator)
Email: law-aso@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 4475
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Additional delivery details
This subject has an enrolment quota of 60 students. Your subject enrolment will not be confirmed until the selection process has been run. Selection is conducted on a random basis with outcomes communicated to students shortly after re-enrolment closes. Please refer to the Melbourne Law School website for more information on the JD Quota Elective selection process.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
- Specialist printed materials will be made available from the Melbourne Law School.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Juris Doctor
Last updated: 3 November 2022