This is a weekly discussion group for current events in intellectual property, information, and technology law. Participating students read Bloomberg BNA newsletters and topical blogs, and discuss the week’s news. The topical coverage is broad, and includes any development in intellectual property, the Internet, telecommunications, privacy, free speech, or new technologies. Visitors are welcome to drop in as space permits; students taking the course for credit will be required to present recent cases and to complete several blogging exercises. Grading is on a credit/no credit basis.
We meet every Monday at 1:05 in room 309. Bring your own lunch. We will not meet on January 18 or January 25.
Stay current with the Bloomberg BNA Law Reports and come prepared to talk about what happened that week. To browse the Bloomberg BNA Law Reports, log in to Bloomberg Law, select the “Legal Analysis & News” tab, and then use the drop-down list on the left to find the Report you are interested in. To receive any of the Reports by email, click on the “Manage Email Notifications” button on the right, then click “Set Notification” for the Report you would like to receive.
Suggested Reports of interest include:
Some additional news sites:
And some blogs:
Many of these have strong points of view. Learning to separate the spin from the substance is part of the fun.
Each student will be responsible for a 20-minute presentation once during the semester. This means picking a topic, finding readings on it, and giving a framing introduction. We will discuss the details in class.
I want our classroom to be a welcoming space, one where we all learn from the diversity of each others’ experiences and perspectives. If anything in or out of class troubles you in a way that you think might affect your participation or learning, please come and talk to me about it. Not all discomfort is avoidable, but I will do everything I can to help that is consistent with the educational goals of the course. I will also respect any requests for confidentiality as far as my legal and professional duties allow.
In particular, if for any reason your preferred name is not the one that appears on the course roster, please let me know how you would rather be addressed. (For example, I typically have several students a semester who go by their middle names rather than their first names.) It’s a small thing, but one there is no reason I should get wrong.
This ia a credit/no-credit course. Regular attendance, active participation, and successfully organizing discussion for “your” week are all required.
Office: Room 231
Phone: 410-706-7260
Email: jgrimmelmann at law.umaryland.edu
Email is the best way to reach me and will generally lead to the fastest response.
My spring 2015 office hours will be Thursdays 1:30 to 3:00 PM, or by appointment.