LL.M. Specialization in Media, Entertainment, Technology, & Sports Law
The Media, Entertainment, Technology, & Sports Law LL.M. specialization curriculum involves completion of four 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, and various transactional doctrines. 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.
Curriculum
A minimum average GPA not lower than a B- (2.70) will be required in specialization courses for final transcript certification of satisfactory specialization completion. 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. Prospective students should bear in mind that, due to curriculum scheduling and faculty availability, not every class listed is taught each year. This is most often true in the case of seminar courses. A sufficient number of courses will be available to enable those students who choose to specialize to satisfy the specialization requirements.
- Required
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Introductory A-Tier Courses
ONE Required Introductory (“A-Tier”) Course.
Only the 4-unit version of Law 274 may be used to satisfy the A-Tier requirement.
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Specialized B-Tier Courses
TWO Specialized ("B-Tier") Courses
LAW 213Sports as Legal Systems: A Comparative Investigation of Law
LAW 244Television Law
LAW 274Trademark Law
LAW 301Art and Cultural Property Law
LAW 303Music Industry Law
LAW 304International Intellectual Property
LAW 306Patent Law
LAW 328Sports and the Law
LAW 357Entertainment Guilds: A Framework for Navigating The Industry
LAW 364Motion Picture Distribution
LAW 386Digital Technologies and the Constitution
LAW 391Venture Capital and the Start-Up Company
LAW 402AI and Entertainment Law
LAW 421Cross-Border Intellectual Property Litigation
LAW 432International and Comparative Sports Law
LAW 433Taxation of the Entertainment Industry
LAW 437Telecommunications Regulation
LAW 450Media Law in the Digital Age
LAW 453Lawyering in Administrative Agencies - Current Issues at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
LAW 479Design Law
LAW 480Television Special Issues: SVOD/AVOD Platforms
LAW 481Harmonizing Hollywood: Entertainment Disputes, Ethics and Peacemaking
LAW 482Representing Talent in the Entertainment Industry
LAW 484Information Privacy and Data Protection
LAW 495Artificial Intelligence Law
LAW 504Law, Technology, and Society
LAW 511A/BSocial Media and the Future of Democracy
LAW 525Patent Intensive
LAW 578Digital Wars - Major Current Legal Battles in Information Economies
LAW 582Brands: Constructing Identity
LAW 768Sports Law Simulation
LAW 769Documentary Film Legal Clinic
LAW 785Negotiation Theory and Practice
LAW 791A/BTalent & Brand Partnerships / Name, Image & Likeness Clinic
LAW 900Contract Design
LAW 902AI Skills Boot Camp
LAW 949Esports: The Legal and Business Evolution
LAW 962Cybersecurity, Business & the Law
LAW 972Negotiation Theory & Practice (J-Term)
LAW 984Video Game Law
LAW 985Silicon Valley Law for Startups, Entrepreneurs and VCs
LAW 986Law of Elon Musk
If Trademark Law (274), Copyright Law (302), and/or Intellectual Property Law (307) are NOT taken as A-Tier Courses, they can be taken as B-Tier Courses.
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Supplementary Tier of Courses
While not required of LL.M. students, these courses remain a recommended roster of subject matter for consideration, especially among students from law schools outside the United States. (They do not count as A-Tier or B-Tier courses for the LL.M. specialization.)
LAW 201Constitutional Law II
LAW 220Introduction to Federal Income Taxation
LAW 230Business Associations
LAW 234Accounting and Financial Analysis for Lawyers
LAW 240Antitrust Law I
LAW 248Business Bankruptcy
LAW 250Secured Transactions
LAW 260Labor Law & Collective Action
LAW 291Taxation of Business Enterprises
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Externship Option
An LL.M. student who is pursuing this specialization and obtains an externship relating to media, entertainment, technology, or sports law may request to apply it as a B-Tier course for the specialization. A student wishing to use an externship as a B-Tier course must receive the prior consent of the METS Specialization Committee. Consent requires a demonstration that the externship will provide exposure to relevant substantive areas of law. Regardless of the number of externships or externship units a student completes, a student may use an externship to count, at most, as one B-Tier course.