Curriculum

• Overview

  The Specialization in Media, Entertainment, Technology & Sport Law's J.D. curriculum involves completion of seven courses arranged in three 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). It is strongly recommended, however, that students in the Specialization complete the Introductory A-Tier in the second year of law school. These mandatory courses 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 array of courses in the middle tier offer choices of subject areas that establish the foundation of entertainment law as a form of business practice encompassing certain routinely encountered law and doctrines. Taken together, the A-Tier and B-Tier courses tend to act as a gateway to the more specialized electives that populate the C-Tier, where students may choose to focus more narrowly on their particular professional interests in entertainment law.
• A - Required Introductory Course

  Law 305 is Mandatory. Recommended as a Spring 1L Elective or during the Fall for 2Ls.

  LAW 305

  Entertainment Law
• B1 - Foundational IP Courses

  1 required.

  LAW 274

  Trademark Law

  LAW 302

  Copyright Law

  LAW 307

  Intellectual Property

  Notes:

  1. Law 274: Trademark Law can be taken for 2 or 4 credits.
• B2 - Foundational Business and Labor Courses

  1 required.

  LAW 220

  Introduction to Federal Income Taxation

  LAW 230

  Business Associations

  LAW 234

  Accounting and Financial Analysis for Lawyers

  LAW 240

  Antitrust Law I

  LAW 248

  Business Bankruptcy

  LAW 250

  Secured Transactions

  LAW 252

  Business Torts

  LAW 260

  Labor Law & Collective Action

  LAW 291

  Taxation of Business Enterprises

  Business Courses:

  • Law 220: Introduction to Federal Income Taxation
  • Law 230: Business Associations
  • Law 234:  Accounting for Lawyers
  • Law 240: Antitrust Law I
  • Law 248: Business Bankruptcy
  • Law 250: Secured Transactions
  • Law 252: Business Torts
  • Law 291: Taxation of Business Enterprises

  Labor Course:

  • Law 260: Labor Law & Collective Action
• C-Specialized and Advanced Courses

  4 required, no fewer than 10 credits total.

  Students taking more than 1 B1 Course may count up 1 additional B1 Course as a C Course.

  METS Externships may count as 1 C course (capped at 4 credits).

  LAW 201

  Constitutional Law II

  LAW 244

  Television Law

  LAW 274

  Trademark Law

  LAW 301

  Art and Cultural Property Law

  LAW 303

  Music Industry Law

  LAW 357

  Entertainment Guilds: A Framework for Navigating The Industry

  LAW 364

  Motion Picture Distribution

  LAW 386

  Digital Technologies and the Constitution

  LAW 391

  Venture Capital and the Start-Up Company

  LAW 402

  AI and Entertainment Law

  LAW 432

  International and Comparative Sports Law

  LAW 437

  Telecommunications Regulation

  LAW 450

  News Media Law in the Digital Age

  LAW 479

  Design Law

  LAW 480

  Television Special Issues: SVOD/AVOD Platforms

  LAW 481

  Harmonizing Hollywood: Entertainment Disputes, Ethics and Peacemaking

  LAW 482

  Representing Talent in the Entertainment Industry

  LAW 487

  Race, Representation and the Law

  LAW 495

  Artificial Intelligence Law

  LAW 504

  Law, Technology, and Society

  LAW 511A/B

  Social Media and the Future of Democracy

  LAW 578

  Digital Wars - Major Current Legal Battles in Information Economies

  LAW 582

  Brands: Constructing Identity

  LAW 768

  Sports Law Simulation

  LAW 769

  Documentary Film Legal Clinic

  LAW 791A/B

  Talent & Brand Partnerships / Name, Image & Likeness Clinic

  LAW 900

  Contract Design

  LAW 949

  Esports: The Legal and Business Evolution

  LAW 972

  Negotiation Theory & Practice (J-Term)

  LAW 984

  Video Game Law
• Program Curriculum Notes
  1. While at present, law students are allowed the opportunity to take two approved courses outside the Law School, only one such outside course will apply against Specialization requirements in the C-Tier, subject to the prior written approval of the Assistant Dean for Students and the Executive Director of the Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law. 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 Specialization. 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 full-time, semester-long externship, or an approved part-time school-year externship (of at least two-units), will count as one C-Tier course, subject to the prior written approval by the Executive Director of its relevancy and appropriateness to the Specialization. Please note that a student who takes a part-time externship will not be eligible for a full-time externship, and a student who has taken a full-time externship is not eligible for a part-time externship.
  3. A minimum average GPA not lower than a B- will be required in Specialization courses for final transcript certification of satisfactory Specialization completion.
  4. Students should declare their intention to complete the Specialization so as to be given preference in the A-Tier and C-Tier courses above (subject to instructor approval). The Declaration form is available online. See the Admissions page for details. Note: All priority courses count towards your first pass. Students enrolled in the Entertainment and Media Law and Policy Program receive preference for admission into most Tier A, B1, and C courses only. Once all program requirements have been fulfilled in Tier A, B1, and C, there is no further preference. We cannot guarantee that you will be enrolled into all requested courses since many courses have a limited number of spaces. Therefore, we recommend that you list and indicate alternate course options (in order of preference).
  5. Students who have completed the Specialization 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, while specific course offerings vary from year to year, all courses taken on the approved curriculum of a given year of law school will apply toward the Specialization. Thus, third-year students who have taken approved courses in their second year may assume that such courses have been appropriately credited to completion of the Specialization.