| CODE | MCT5019 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Intellectual Property Law in the Information Society | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Media, Communications & Technology Law | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit concerns intellectual property law as applied to digital content and services, with a focus on trademarks, copyright and patent laws. The perspective is primarily a Eurpoean one, with a focus on EU legislation and policy within the field. It provides an overview of other relevant international instruments, along with pertinent national traditions and rules. Account is also taken of relevant legal developments in selected non-European countries, most notably the USA. A salient set of issues taken up in the study-unit concern the tensions between, in the words of Andrew Murray "what citizens of the information society want and expect: liberty, free use of content, and unfettered free expression, and what the intellectual property industry is seeking: protection, control over use and abuse, and reward." The study-unit not only examines intellectual property law in light of technological developments but also considers the respective roles played by competition law and contract (licensing schemes) in regulating access to and use of digital content. The detailed content of this study-unit includes relevant topics such as: protecting software, Open Source and Creative Commons, copyright and copyright infringement in the digital environment (linking, caching, and the temporary reproduction right; the communication to the public right; the challenges posed by peer-to-peer networks), protecting databases, and branding, trademarks and domain names. Study-Unit Aims: The primary aim of the study-unit is to facilitate an expert understanding and specialised knowledge of intellectual property law both in general and in particular as it applies to modern forms of Information and Communications Technology, especially to distribution of information in digital networks (the Internet). The students are guided through the complex architecture of Intellectual Property regimes across the globe, within the EU and in Malta, with the ambition to display and analyse the tight balance between information monopolies, creative restitution, consumer needs and human rights limitations. IP rights are explored thoroughly and at every stage: from their inception all the way down to their enforcement. The central aim of the study-unit is not just to elucidate the legal rules as they currently stand but also to encourage a critical reflection and, if appropriate, the questioning of them. While at undergraduate level students are expected to simply understand the current legal status quo, in this postgraduate study-unit the students are expected to act praeter legem but, still, intra jus: they will explore still unregulated spaces (such as AI, the metaverse, NFTs and distributed computing) from an IP Law point of view, envisage possible venues of regulating them and put themselves in the shoes of the regulator (and no longer in those of an interpreter of the law) by identifying the major gaps in existing rules while formulating concrete proposals of amending them. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Illustrate the application of Intellectual Property Law in the information society; - Contrast the model of rigid Intellectual Property limitations imposed on an industrial society, with the open and flexible intellectual communities of the digital environment; - Justify the legitimation of Intellectual Property rights in environments dominated by information anarchy; - Establish the protected subject matter, as well as the scope of protection awarded to the creator of intellectual assets; - Debate on whether digital intellectual assets are suffering from IP related discrimination in comparison to industrial intellectual assets; - Question the assumption that Intellectual Property rights protect the creator of informational assets, by elucidating the complex licensing networks that determine who bears the fruits of creativity; - Predict future regulatory trends and case law development in the area of Intellectual Property Law. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Adapt to the modern volatile regulatory environment of Intellectual Property Law; - Measure the social and economic consequences of existing case law in internet related IP disputes; - Deliver expert opinions and legal advice on matters related to digital IP Law; - Record ongoing case law trends and refine the crucial findings by critically evaluating the legal approach followed; - Display the ability to delve into unregulated spaces; - Plan IP related digital litigation strategies; - Synthesise legal and technological enforcement solutions for IP rights. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Murray A, Information Technology Law (4th edn, OUP 2019) ISBN: 9780198804727 (Part III, chapters 8 - 15). - Rowland D, U Kohl and A Charlesworth, Information Technology Law, (5th edn, Routledge 2011) ISBN: 9780415870160 (Chapters 4, 5, 11- 12). - Pila, J. & Torremans, P. European Intellectual Property Law (2nd edn, OUP 2019). - Brown et al. Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy, (5th edn, OUP 2019). Supplementary Readings: - Lloyd I, Information Technology Law (8th edn, OUP 2014) ISBN: 9780198787556 - Reed C, and J. Angel (eds.) Computer Law (7th edn, OUP 2012) ISBN: 9780199696468 - Bainbridge D, Introduction to Information Technology Law (6th edn, Longman 2007) ISBN: 9781405846660 - Bainbridge, D. I. Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law, (6th edn, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC) - Kur, A. & Dreier, T. (2013) European Intellectual Property Law: Text, Cases & Materials (2nd edn, Edward Elgar Publishing 2019) Further reading materials The area of Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law is a fast moving one. As such, it can be difficult to find textbooks which are up-to-date with current developments, as textbooks can often be 12 months behind current developments even at the time of their publication. Journal articles are often the best source of more recent information, and have the added advantage of often being available electronically via the WWW. Thus, further reading materials will necessarily need to be suggested as the study-unit proceeds. I tend to suggest that students use textbooks as a source of basic ‘blackletter’ information and then flesh that basic knowledge out with analysis drawn from journals. Primary materials, such as legislation and caselaw, as well as other useful secondary material are also often published on-line and, as a result, learning how to search Internet resources effectively is an increasingly important skill. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Ioannis Revolidis (Co-ord.) Mireille-Martine Sant |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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