Law, Regulation, and Technology - Bachelor
Undergraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 10
- Teaching semesters
- Autumn
- Course code
- JUS2305
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
Course description
Objectives and Content
The course is not offered autumn 2024
This course considers contemporary issues at the interface of Law, Regulation, and Technology. Its starting point is the traditional idea of Law as the primary means by which social and political life are regulated, and of the State as the primary regulatory actor. Through a series of case studies involving intellectual property (IP), we ask how this conception sits with the reality of regulation in the current advanced technological age. The objectives are to introduce students to some of the most important and pressing legal issues of today, and to enable them to engage in contemporary debates regarding (a) Technology as a source of regulatory opportunities and challenges for States, and (b) the role of Law, including IP Law particularly, in exploiting and negotiating them.
Schedule of Classes
The course will be taught in 10 seminars during the Autumn semester, following this or a similar schedule:
Class 1: Law, Regulation, and Technology
- The nature of Law, Regulation, and Technology
- Technology as a source of regulatory opportunities and challenges for States
- Law in an advanced technological age
Class 2: Intellectual Property
- The nature of Intellectual Property
- The role of IP Law historically and today
- Conceptions of IP, including as a regulatory tool and system
Classes 3 to 5: Patent Systems and Modern Biotech
- Arguments for (and Against) Patents
- Modern Biotech and its disruption of Patent Law
- Contemporary Patent Issues: inventions, incentives, and public benefit; gene and medical patenting
Classes 5 (continued) to 7: Copyright in Cyberspace
- Arguments for (and Against) Copyright
- The Internet and its disruption of Copyright Law
- Contemporary Copyright Issues: works, rights, and third-party freedoms; media monitoring, hyperlinking, and online hosting
Classes 8 and 9: Trade Marks in the Platform Economy
- Arguments for (and Against) Trade Marks
- The Platform Economy and its disruption of Trademark Law
- Contemporary Trademark Issues: brands, TM functions, and liability; extended protections, keyword advertising, and platform operators
Class 10: Concluding Themes
All students are expected to prepare in advance for class and to participate in class discussions.
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of this course, students will have:
- Broad knowledge of key contemporary debates in the field of Law, Regulation, and Technology, including specialised insight into some of the regulatory challenges created for Law and the State by advanced digital and bio technologies;
- Familiarity with scholarly theories and methods in the field of Law, Regulation, and Technology, particularly as they relate to IP;
- The ability to draw and build on this knowledge to engage with new areas within the fields of Law, Regulation, and Technology, and IP;
- Knowledge of the history, traditions, distinctive character, and place in society of Law, Regulation, and Technology, and particularly of IP.
- Gained the ability to ooperate with law students from other countries, and gain perspectives on common legal challenges from students from a legal background different than their own
- The ability to contribute with perspectives from their own country and legal background
Students will also have developed certain skills and general competence, including:
- The ability to understand and engage with doctrinal, policy, and theoretical sources of different types, and to use those sources to present scholarly arguments in the fields covered by the course;
- The ability to apply academic knowledge and relevant work to practical and theoretical problems in the fields of Law, Regulation, and Technology, and IP, and to make well-founded choices between different legal and policy alternatives;
- The ability to find, evaluate, and refer to information and scholarly ideas and to present them in a manner that is appropriate and instructive in the fields of Law, Regulation, and Technology, and IP;
- The ability to engage in debates and write reasoned responses to questions on legal and policy issues in the fields of Law, Regulation, and Technology, and IP.
- The ability to present and evaluate legal analyses and points of view in English, both orally and in writing
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Place of Instruction
Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
The course requires in-person attendance and is not suitable for online/remote study
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Combined with JUS298-2-A Law, Regulation and Technology or JUS3505 Law, Regulation and Technology - Master, this course will generate no new credits.
The course combines successfully with
Access to the Course
The course is available for students:
- Admitted to the five-year master programme in law;
- Exchange students at the Faculty of Law.
The pre-requirements may still limit certain students' access to the course.
Teaching and learning methods
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Compulsory attendance at lectures/seminars.
More specific information about the required attendance for each course will be made available in Mitt UiB.
In addition, students are required to submit a paper of between 1,800 and 2,000 words on a designated topic. The paper must be approved by the lecturer. Only students who have had their paper approved will obtain the right to sit the final exam.
Students who fail the paper will have a chance to resubmit their paper before the exam.
Forms of Assessment
Two hour digital school exam.
Information about digital examination can be found at http://www.uib.no/en/education/87471/digital-examination
Exam language:
- Question paper: English
- Answer paper: English
Grading Scale
Assessment Semester
Autumn
Students who do not pass the examination may re-sit in the following semester provided that the mandatory assignment and attendance both have been approved and when the examination result is due to
- legitimate reason for non-attendance (see Section 3-4, paragraph 3 b ii in the Supplementary Regulations)
- failed result
For rules regarding voluntary re-sit, see Section 3-4, paragraph 1 c.
Reading List
Course Evaluation
Examination Support Material
For further info see section 3-9 of the Supplementary Regulations for Studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen