Here is some further information and due dates for the assessments:

Some Explanation on the Assessments:

1. The Essay (50%) of final grade will be a research paper on a topic to be assigned in iLearn. This is due by 11:59 PM on Tuesday 12 May 2020

2. Professional writing will be in the format of an online examination (30% of final grade) on 18 June 2020 between 1PM and 3PM + reading time

3. Weekly quizzes will be held in class during the on-campus sessions on 22, 23 April from 2-3 PM.

Media law - is this something different from entertainment law? Yes and no.  In this course, our emphasis will be on 21st Century media, which is really entertainment.  Unlike traditional media law courses that focus on newspapers, radio, and television, we will focus on media that is more prevalent - the Cyber World.  This change of focus contains some challenges as the law is far from settled. Just consider, as newspapers fail around the world, computer gaming has grown to the point where gaming now generates more money annually than television.  We would be remiss and very out of date if we did not take up social media and all of its worldwide ramifications. To borrow a phrase from Charles Dickens, from the viewpoint of media law, this is the best of time , this is the worst of times.  The best of times because so much is happening, the worst of times because the legal landscape changes faster than we can adapt.

It is naive to think that we can predict the world of media five years from now. To avoid being legal dinosaurs, I have added a substantial amount of media theory to this course so that as lawyers, you will be better equipped to deal with whatever the future will bring.

This course contains 13 weekly topics that are described in the iLearn website. Power Point slides accompany each lecture. The lectures are available on recordings but you are welcome to attend the live lectures scheduled under LAWS5084.  You are encouraged to attend the live lectures as there is frequently an opportunity for questions.

Attendance and participation in the on-campus intensive tutorials are absolutely essential to successful completion of this course.  Assessment topics are frequently derived from the materials addressed in the tutorials. For example, much of the contemporary issues concerning 21st Century media and regulation is dealt with in the tutorials as opposed to the lectures.

Readings for this course involve a combination of: (1) The prescribed casebook; (2) Readings on Leganto, and (3) Current materials distributed in class or made available on iLearn

The prescribed casebook is Media Law (2d edition) by David Rolph et al (Oxford 2015).  this text provides a good foundation on which we will create media law for 2021

Despite any information to the contrary, there are not weekly quizzes in this course.  There are two assessment tasks: (1) a  a research assignment, weighted 60% of total grade; and (2) a final exam, weighted 40%.  Dates and description will be furnished on iLearn

Our goal is to learn law in a very contemporary context. While details are provided on iLearn, and everything is subject to change, here are some of the subjects that we will be dealing with:

1. Media and Entertainment - what are they? Are they the same?

2. Freedom of expression

3. A bit of copyright law

4. The Nature of Media

5. Media in the Digital Age

6. Computer games as media

7. Restraints on freedom of expression - defamation, privacy, obscenity (whatever that means in 2020), censorship and suppression

8. Law of the Internet

9. Law of Social Media

Media law is constantly changing in an attempt to keep up with changing media.  In 2020, we address some copyright basics because that is essential to dealing with the new media - especially social media and computer gaming.

In addition we use a more theoretical approach to prepare for a changing media environment.