Jeanne Fromer

Courses

• Advanced Copyright

  Advanced Copyright will examine a number of the most recent issues and controversies in copyright law. These issues may include recent infringement litigation related to artificial intelligence, copying of music, the copyright status of appropriation art, renewed attention to copyright protection for software, issues related to streaming music, the use of copyrighted material by educational institutions, and the viability of fan films and fan fiction. Students must have completed a course in Copyright Law or the Survey of Intellectual Property. Students will be evaluated based a final paper as well as in-class participation.

• Copyright Law

  This course will offer a comprehensive survey of U.S. copyright law and theory, with attention as well to international copyright law. It will examine the substantive requirements that literary, musical, pictorial and other works of authorship must meet to qualify for copyright protection, the procedures for obtaining protection, the scope and duration of protection, fair use, and remedies for infringement. The course will also focus on copyright’s role in the digital age.

• Survey of Intellectual Property

  This is a substantive course on intellectual property law. The course will focus on the American systems of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrecy, and state intellectual-property rights, though international and comparative issues will be considered as well. It will examine doctrine, theory, and policy. Emphasis will be given to intellectual property’s role in the digital age. There is no prerequisite for the course. Nor is any scientific or technical background necessary to take this course. Students who have already taken patent, copyright, or trademark law may wish to consult with the instructor as to whether the survey course is the most appropriate option.

• Trade Secret Law

  This course will offer a comprehensive study of U.S. trade secret law. This body of law protects what is often a company’s most valuable asset: its confidential and proprietary business information, which can range from technological processes to formulas to customer lists. The course will cover:

  • The subject matter that is eligible to be a “trade secret”
  • The requirements of secrecy, economic value, and reasonable efforts being made to maintain secrecy
  • Misappropriation of trade secrets via improper means or via breach of a duty of confidentiality
  • Particular issues that arise with regard to trade secrets in the employment context, such as confidentiality and non-competition agreements and what happens when a former employee goes to work for a competitor
  • Litigation tactics and defenses
  • Remedies for trade secret misappropriation
  • Federal and state protection of trade secrets, and civil and criminal laws protecting trade secrets
  • Management of trade secrets
  • Takings of trade secrets by state action
  • Policy considerations in permitting socially important information to be protected as secret

  The course will touch on comparisons between trade secret law and other forms of intellectual property protection. Most importantly, trade secrecy often serves as an alternative means of protecting subject matter covered by patent law. There are therefore important connections between trade secret law and patent law, including issues of preemption and upsides and downsides to each form of protection. Trade secret law has roots in property, contract, tort, and unfair-competition law, and the course will explore the connections to each body of law.