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Commercial Data Law (LAWS90213)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
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Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | Semester 2 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Globally, data is gaining prominence as the commercial asset of value. It is the use of data that provides a competitive advantage, it is through data that new commercial opportunities are identified and the misuse of data, or data breach, can threaten a company’s reputation and value. What rights exist in the data that is collected or created by an organisation? What responsibilities are owed to those from whom data is collected or to whom it relates? How does that change if data is altered so that it (no longer) relates to persons in identifiable form? How can the interests held in valuable commercial data be protected? How do other countries and cultures treat these issues?
In Commercial Data Law, students will be encouraged to reflect upon the rights that are held in data of different kinds and how those rights can be or might be protected under Australian law. We will consider the issues raised across the life cycle of data from creation through to destruction, including the issues of ownership, protection, security, licensing, infringement, access and destruction. Consideration of rights and responsibilities associated with privacy, property, contract, and intellectual property will be enlivened through hypothetical scenarios informed by the experiences of a lawyer in practice.
Topics may include:
- Ownership, intellectual property, copyright, trade secrets and database rights
- Data creation by employees cf. independent contractors
- Enhancements and derived data
- Data Sharing and Disclosure
- Contract, licensing and infringement
- Consumer Data and Personal Information
- Statutory and Common Law Privacy and Data Protection
- Access and Portability
- Security, Retention and Destruction
- International and Cross Border Transfer
- International standards, including EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Understand the commercial value of data and the legal issues raised by collection, use, and disclosure of data across the data life-cycle; e.g. ownership, security, privacy, access, destruction and transfer;
- Identify and describe rights and responsibilities relevant to personal and non-personal information in the commercial environment;
- Critically analyse opportunities to protect data as an asset through application of specific legal principles, e.g intellectual property, copyright, trade secrets, and database rights, confidentiality, contract, licensing, and infringement;
- Critically reflect on how Australian law compares and contrasts in relevant respects to the legal position in other jurisdictions and the implications of legal reform.
Generic skills
On completion of this subject, students should have the ability to:
- Accurately describe legal issues raised by collection, use, and disclosure of data from data cradle to grave;
- Accurately describe rights and responsibilities relevant to data in the commercial environment;
- Demonstrate an expert understanding of opportunities to, and implications of, protecting data through an application of specific legal principles;
- Critically reflect upon diverse cultural approaches to protecting the value of data through law;
- Analyse and integrate key findings from independent research and guided reading;
- Effectively convey construct expert argument through oral presentation;
- Analyse and integrate key findings from research into an extended essay that can effectively communicate to non-specialists.
Last updated: 31 January 2024