6.912 Introduction to Copyright Law, January (IAP) 2006

The copyright symbol. (Image courtesy of MIT OCW.)

Highlights of this Course

This course features video lectures and an extensive list of readings. A description of assignments is also available. This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to copyright law and American law in general. Topics covered include: structure of federal law; basics of legal research; legal citations; how to use LexisNexis®; the 1976 Copyright Act; copyright as applied to music, computers, broadcasting, and education; fair use; Napster®, Grokster®, and Peer-to-Peer file-sharing; Library Access to Music Project; The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act; DVDs and encryption; software licensing; the GNU® General Public License and free software.

Technical Requirements

Special software is required to use some of the files in this course: .rm.

Audio and video lecture files.

LEC #	TOPICS	VIDEOS
1	Introduction; Basics of Legal Research; Legal Citations	(RM - 56K) (RM ‑ 220K)
2	LexisNexis®; 1976 Copyright Act	(RM - 56K) (RM - 220K)
3	Copyright applied to Music, Computers; Napster®; Peer-to-Peer File Sharing	(RM - 56K) (RM - 220K)
4	Software Licensing; DVDs and Encryption	(RM - 56K) (RM - 220K)