Welcome to Humanities 1 ? Copyright in the Digital Age
What is copyright, why is it enshrined in the United States Constitution, and how has copyright evolved in the United States? What does an author need to do to secure copyright on her works, how long does it last, and what does this right entitle her to do, or to prevent others from doing? How has copyright law evolved in the digital age, and is the system broken? In this course, we will explore the origins and purposes of copyright, look at recent changes in copyright law, and speculate on what the future holds.
Course Organization
Paper Topics
- Eldred v Ashcroft — Is a monopoly right that lasts 70 years after you're dead long enough?
- Critiquing Arguments — How would you counter a particular
copyright-related argument?
Background Information
- Jefferson To McPherson ? Thomas Jefferson's 1813 letter to Isaac McPherson on copyright
- The Tyranny of Copyright? ? 2004 New York Times article by Boynton on the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- A Brief History of copyright
- Fair(y) use Tale — A tale on fair use definitely not produced by the Walt Disney Corporation
In the News
- May — Copyright policy of the American Physics Society changes to give authors more rights
- August 6 — Pogue on the Google/Apple/AT&T controversy
- Who owns your genes? — Should a company or individual be allowed to patent a gene?
- Writing Resources
- Sample Papers from Various Disciplines
- Raw Calendar