2011-12 LL.M. Curriculum

The Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law Program’s LL.M. curriculum involves completion of five courses arranged in two tiers. While the tiers are roughly progressive (in that, for example, basic copyright and entertainment law are helpful for the more advanced courses), generally the courses below may be taken concurrently (subject to a given instructor’s prerequisite requirements in specific instances). The mandatory courses of the Introductory A-Tier are intended to present the fundamental principles and practices of contemporary entertainment law, and they cover copyright protection, various transactional doctrines, and media law. The A-Tier courses typically serve as a gateway to the more specialized electives that populate the B-Tier, where students may choose to focus more narrowly on their particular professional interests in entertainment law.

A. THREE Introductory ("A-Tier") Courses:

1. REQUIRED:

Copyright Law (Law 302) or
Intellectual Property Law (Law 307)

2. REQUIRED:

Entertainment Law (Law 305)

3. REQUIRED:

Communications Law and Policy (Law 327)

B. TWO Specialized ("B-Tier") Courses:

IF NOT TAKEN AS A-TIER COURSES:

14. Copyright Law (Law 302)
15. Intellectual Property Law (Law 307)

OPTIONAL Mini-Courses:

1. Mini Course: Deals (Law 902)
2. Mini Course: Information Technology Law (Law 935)

NOTE: The Mini Courses each count as only one-half of a course toward the B-Tier requirement, since they accord only one unit.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM NOTES:

1. LL.M. students are allowed the opportunity to take one approved course outside the Law School in satisfaction of their degree. Accordingly, one such outside course may apply against the Program requirements in the B-Tier, subject to the prior written approval of the Assistant Dean for Students and the Executive Director of the Program. As examples, both the graduate division of the School of Theater, Film and Television and the Anderson School’s Entertainment and Media Management Institute offer an academically worthy array of courses suitable as a complement to the Program. Students should be cautioned, however, that enrollment in courses outside the Law School is generally by petition and subject to availability only after the respective school’s students have first been accommodated, and that many of the outside courses may be offered only irregularly.

2. An approved part-time school-year externship (of at least two units) will count as one B-tier course, subject to the prior written approval by the Executive Director of its relevancy and appropriateness to the Program.

3. A minimum average GPA not lower than a B- will be required in Program courses for final transcript certification of satisfactory Program completion.

4. Students should declare their intention to complete the Program so as to be given preference in the A-Tier and B-Tier courses above (subject to instructor approval), and the Declaration form is available from the Records Office or online here: http://cdn.law.ucla.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/Entertainment%20Law/Declaration_041812_v7.pdf.

5. Students who have completed the Program requirements may elect, at their option, to have the certification noted on their transcript. That election cannot be changed after the student has been graduated.

6. Note also that specific course offerings vary from year to year.

7. The courses below constitute the additional, middle “foundational” tier of courses from which J.D. Program candidates may choose. While they are not required of LL.M. students, they remain a recommended roster of subject matter for consideration, especially among students from law schools outside the United States:

1.        Constitutional Law II (First Amendment) (Law 201)
2.        Taxation of Property Transactions (Law 208)
3.        Introduction to Federal Income Taxation (Law 220)
4.        Business Associations (Law 230)
5.        Business Bankruptcy (Law 248)
6.        Secured Transactions (Law 250)
7.       Labor Law (Law 260)

Updated: April 19, 2012