Publishing and the Law

Intellectual property is the foundation of publishing. In any medium, such property is protected and regulated by copyrights, trademarks, and other laws as well as licenses and other contractual arrangements. This course examines the primary legal issues that editors, publishers, and other executives must deal with today in the businesses of publishing books, magazines, and other print and digital media. This course will survey the development of media law, including the First Amendment, libel, prior restraint, privacy, right of publicity, and advertising. Students will also be given an introduction to contracts and contract negotiations. Throughout the session, legal precedents will be studied, particularly how they apply to developing digital business models. Students will be given the tools to gain a basic understanding of most aspects of publishing law in order to identify issues and bring them to the attention of managers and/or lawyers; such an understanding is critical in avoiding legal issues or resolving them should they arise. Students will examine real-life hypotheticals and scenarios in class and homework assignments.