A University of Turin undergraduate course (BA in Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies) focused on copyright law in its international and comparative dimensions. The course provides knowledge of the relevant instruments of international law, as well as an understanding of key principles and doctrines applied in common-law and civil-law jurisdictions.
The BA course in Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies is part of the Department of Law of the University of Turin. The course is a 3-years degree entirely taught in English, which aims to train students to be able to complete different professional tasks in the international context. The fields of expertise can go from business work to an institutional career, as well as careers in the world on NGOs and the third sector.
The course International Copyright is an elective course taught at year 3. It aims to provide students with knowledge of both international and comparative dimensions of copyright law, with a focus on EU and US laws.
Students are expected to be able to apply the relevant copyright principles, norms and legislative instruments to legal disputes arising from the use of creative expressions, both nationally and transnationally.
The course covers the following topics, in an international and comparative dimensions, with respect to key common-law and civil-law jurisdictions:
- Rationale and justifications for copyright protection
- Subject matter of copyright
- The right to reproduce the work and the impact of digital technology
- The right to communicate the work to the public
- Permitted acts: the US “fair use” doctrine and the European system of “exceptions & limitations”
- Generative AI, authorship and copyright infringement
- The author’s “moral rights”
- Secondary liability and the exemptions for internet service providers
- Enforcement and remedies (essentials)
130 students selected this optional course in 2024. Teaching included frontal lectures and seminars exercises on case studies.
Students were required to prepare case comments on selected court decisions in preparation for the exam.
The textbook for the course was based on Extended Readings on Copyright by Matthew Sag, a work released under a Creative Commons International license (BY-NC-SA), modified and adapted by Maurizio Borghi to include reference to EU principles and jurisprudence.
The exam consists in the presentation of a case comment and an oral interview.
The course is held by Maurizio Borghi (course convenor).