MIT Offers Free Online Course: Introduction to Copyright Law

[mandy]

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.

more info: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Eng...ourseHome/

[chiquita]

Mandy,
Thank You for the great link. There are also a variety of choices in other fields as well. I found another course that is similar to the one you posted.

15.628 Patents, Copyrights, and the Law of Intellectual Property
This weekly seminar examines key concepts of U.S. intellectual property law, with emphasis on patents and copyrights and a briefer look at trade secrets and trademarks. Current issues relating to information technologies and business methods will be highlighted.

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-o.../index.htm