I've attached the syllabus guidelines to follow. It is a legal research paper about copyright law and I wrote a proposal (which has already been submitted as one of the deliverables) for what I want my paper to be about, which I will also attach below. This was my professor's feedback on my proposal:
Leila I think this will work well as your topic. Although you mention some cases, your sources need to be enhanced. I suggest you look at Lexis Academic for law review articles on point. I look forward to your paper. Prof. Mass
Assignment: Legal Research Paper Length and Format: 8-10 pp, double-spaced, 11 or 12-pt font in Arial or Times New Roman Three Deliverables with three due dates On or before February 26: one-page proposal describing your topic with narrowed legal question and a list of five preliminary sources (10% of paper grade). You MUST describe the scenario you intend to address. On or before March 21: 8- to 10-page draft of your paper, submitted through Canvas for comments and review (20% of your paper grade) On or before April 2: 8 - 10-page final paper with executive summary and references page added IN ADDITION TO AT LEAST 8 PAGES. (70% of your paper grade) Rationale: This paper gives you the opportunity to delve more deeply into a legal issue of your choice and to convincingly communicate about that topic. Once you have selected a general topic (e.g. contract law), do some basic research and find a narrow legal question or issue within that topic that interests you (e.g. when will an employer be able to enforce a covenant not to compete against an employee?). Feel free to look ahead in the syllabus and consider not only topics from early in the course, but also those we will be covering later. I am also open to topics that interest you but that we will not have time to cover in this survey course. Real-Life Audience: The law does not exist in a world of legal abstraction. Rather, I want you to appreciate that the law is a tool for actual ethical application to our lives. For this reason, I want you to create a scenario where your research and recommendations serve to advise your firm on your chosen issue, (e.g. you might be the General Counsel writing a memo to the V.P of Human Resources on what factors to consider in drafting a fair employment contract to use for the firm). Your memorandum should describe the relevant law that would apply to the situation and consider the context of the audience to whom this memo is written. (e.g. how would my explaining the law be helpful strategically to the person drafting the contract?). To write your paper, you should include at least 5 sources, which could be statutes, cases, law review articles, or general periodicals (Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal or similar). No more than two of your five sources can be from these general, or popular press, periodicals. Purpose: Your purpose is to provide practical legal advice to solve a business problem in a way that also furthers the business objectives of the firm. For example, your memo should explain the law and help the decision makers to balance both risks and business objectives. (e.g.,If you draft a covenant not to compete that is too broad, it might dissuade employees from leaving and competing with the firm. But if it is ruled to be overly broad, it may be struck down and the firm will be unprotected from outside competition.) Your memorandum should not be a Wikipedia-like treatment of the topic, full of history and dry description, but should instead reflect your individualized research crafted around the audience whose legal problem you are solving. You should explain the topic, discuss the pros and cons of an approach to it, and then make a well-supported argument that favors a particular approach or action. Your copying and pasting or incorrectly paraphrasing of others’ work will be viewed as an intellectual integrity violation and will be closely scrutinized. The paper will go through SafeAssign to check for originality and integrity issues. Timeline: This legal research paper has three deliverables: On or before 2/26: Proposal for 10% of your paper grade. You’ll submit, through Canvas, a one-page proposal defining both the proposed topic and the narrow legal question or issue you will be researching. You will create a business scenario and define the audience you’ll advise on that question or issue. Finally, you’ll include a preliminary list of legal sources you have researched and intend to reference in your memorandum. I will approve, modify or reject your topic by or before 3/5. (approximately 10% of paper grade) On or before 3/21: First draft, 8 to 10 pp., for 20% of your paper grade. You’ll submit, through Canvas, your first full draft, with citations and a APA References page, of the legal memorandum. It will be reviewed by the Kogod Center for Business Communications (KCBC) and you will receive comments and suggestions no later than 3/29. KCBC will review your paper for appropriate style, language, structure, and conformity to the paper instructions. However, please note that simply following the suggestions of the KCBC does not relate directly to your grade in the paper. 3. On or before 4/2: Final draft, 8 to 10 pages, for 70% of the paper grade. Please be sure you have a proper APA “References” page. Bring a printed copy to hand in during class AND submit through Canvas. Unexcused late papers will be assessed a full one-letter grade penalty for each class that it is late. (i.e., 4/6 = one letter grade penalty; 4/9 = 2 letter grade penalty.) Additional Tips and Guidance If you have difficulty choosing a topic, please feel free to discuss your ideas with me. I’m happy to discuss several alternatives for you to research. In terms of format, your paper is a Memorandum that addresses a narrow legal issue or question and must be written in a proper memo format, including a heading like this: From: John Smith, General Counsel To: Mary Mason, V.P. of Human Resources Re:Covenant Not To Compete in Employment Contract Date: November 13, 2021 You’ll write a one-paragraph executive summary explaining the business problem, the legal issue in question, and your recommendation for a remedy or policy. You’ll have specific recommendations concerning the action or approach that the business should take concerning the legal issue or question. In addition to at least five cited sources in the memo, you should provide a list of works consulted at the end of the paper. This will provide me with an understanding of your research journey. The works in this list do not have to be directly cited in the memo, but may have been used to provide you with a background understanding of the topic Leila Shea Professor Mass ACCT-245 Legal Research Paper Proposal Copyright Law in the Digital Age Copyright infringement occurs when a piece of intellectual property, categorized as a literary or artistic production, is copied or replicated without the permission of the owner. Copyright law revolves around the ability to reproduce and distribute artwork, after it’s first statue was created in response to the development of the printing press. As a result, new laws and statues are created to ensure the protection of copyrights with evolving methods of reproduction and distribution. In our digital age, where accessibility to the worldwide web is ubiquitous, there has been no bigger impact on authors, artists, and their intellectual property. New streaming mediums have given rise to the world of piracy, plagiarism, and counterfeiting. However, copyright infringement litigation is often timely, costly, and disputes are rarely brought to a trial. With new methods emerging such as streaming and downloading, congress is still creating rules and regulations to protect intellectual property that is shared on these digital platforms. With all this in mind, it is important to take the following into account: When and with whom is it appropriate to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement, pertaining to content shared on an online platform? I will be advising the V.P. of marketing for a media company on appropriate or necessary circumstances where the company should engage or avoid litigation based on the identity of the adverse party. Whether it be a large video-sharing platform like YouTube as seen in the case Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, or with a social media user as seen in the case Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. More specifically, I would like to use a scenario in which one designated user on a video-sharing platform has been reuploading identical copywritten content which is owned by said company. Do they target the User, The Platform, or No one? In addition to these cases I plan to research and use information from the following cases: United States v. Am. Soc’y of Composers, Hearst Stations Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., and A&M Records Inc. v. Napster.