I.P. law?

Intellectual Property (or IP) law is a disparate subject. If there is a common theme in the areas of law defined as intellectual property law it may be found in the concept of the protection from unauthorised use of an individual's intellectual creations.

In view of the enormity of the subject the course at City seeks to take a number of topics, and to consider the essential aspects of those topics. A central theme will be the nature and means by which a creative author or composer may achieve copyright in his or her novels dramas and musical compositions. This will take up about half of the course. The remaining part of the course is devoted to current themes in IP law.

A difficult topic is the evolution of legal remedies to protect "persona", ie. the attributes of character possessed by both real and fictional individuals, from unauthorised commercial exploitation by third parties.

There is little by the way of case law in this latter developing area of the law, and the candidate taking this course must be prepared to form their own opinions based on their reading and research of the literature in the area.

Candidates undertaking IP Law must also have a good working knowledge of literature, art films and some critical skill in these areas.