Spring 2016 Course Schedule

E-Commerce Law & Drafting (LAW-846-001)
Effross

Meets: 09:00 AM - 10:50 AM (T) - Yuma - Room Y115

Enrolled: 6 / Limit: 25

Administrator Access


Notices

There are no notices at this time.

Description

E-Commerce Law & Drafting - Professor Effross (Spring 2016) (Course 846-001)

Tuesdays, 9:00 - 10:50 a.m.

This unique course presents practical contractual and licensing techniques designed to minimize the legal, technological, and cultural uncertainties facing parties in transactions that involve digitized intellectual property (text, music, images, video, software) and/or digital methods of communication (e-mail, Web sites).

Our detailed examinations of both traditional and recently-developed provisions, and the extensive drafting-issues checklist/“toolkit” that we will develop over the course of the semester, deepen and extend the material encountered in Contracts and Sales courses, and should be of continuing professional and personal relevance to anyone contemplating preparing, revising, or negotiating contracts or licenses of any type.

Emerging business models analyzed during the semester, along with their associated legal documents and their underpinnings in the substantive laws of contracts, licenses, and intellectual property, include:

  • Software and Content Licenses: Traditional, Open Source, and “Freemium”
  • Content Subscription/Paywall; Publication; and Distribution Agreements
  • Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LiveJournal)
  • Certifications and Trustmarks (TRUSTe)
  • Crowd-Sourced Reviews (Yelp, Angie’s List); and Reputation Management
  • Selling Goods and Services: Marketplaces (Amazon) and Middlemen (eBay, Wallapop, Craigslist)
  • Affiliate Arrangements; and Advertising Placement
  • Crowdfunding (Kickstarter)
  • Sharing Economy Arrangements (Uber, Lyft, Airbnb)
  • Fantasy Sports Leagues (Draft Kings, FanDuel); and Gaming (EverQuest)
  • Internet, Web Hosting, Storage, Cloud Computing, and Web Design Agreements

Readings will include a Nolo Press manual; caselaw; statutory and regulatory provisions; and items from law reviews, newspapers, magazines, and Web sites.

The examination will be an open-book take-home paper of 3,500 to 4,000 words on an assigned topic to be distributed on Tuesday, April 19 (in our final class session)—and due by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3 (the second day of exam period).

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Textbooks and Other Materials

The textbook information on this page was provided by the instructor. Students should use this information when considering purchases from the AU Campus Store or other vendors. Students may check to determine if books are currently available for purchase online.

In addition to supplements posted on the course Web page during the semester, we will be using the following two resources:

  • Stephen Fishman, Legal Guide to Web & Software Development (Nolo: 5th ed. 2007)
  • *This book and its included CD (with model forms) are out of print, but copies of both are on reserve in the Pence Law Library.
  • Any recent statutory supplement containing Uniform Commercial Code Articles 1 and 2—for example, Chomsky et al., Selected Commercial Statutes for Sales and Contracts Courses 2015 edition (West).
  • Such books are also on reserve (for example, the Uniform Laws Annotated volumes, at call number F879.A45 U5).

First Class Readings

Before our first class (on Tuesday, January 12), please read Supplement 1, which is available on MyWCL, and consider the issues raised on its second page.