Vanderbilt in Venice Summer 2009 Courses
Comparative Copyright (2 credit hours) examines comparative regulatory responses for emerging copyright and copyright-related issues. Representative topics are as follows: the regulation of copyrightable online content (particularly user-generated content) against the background of the regulation of online service providers (the statutory catch-all term that would include websites such as Google, FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.); the regulation of online data gathering against the background of privacy regulation; comparative strengths of opt-in versus opt-out rules for automated online systems such as are employed by internet mega-sites; and how inherently global, internet-dependent business models can adapt to conflicting regimes.
Taught by Steven Hetcher, Professor of Law, Acting Director, Technology and Entertainment Law Program, Vanderbilt Law School.
Comparative Perspectives on Counter-Terrorism (2 credit hours) offers a comparative analysis of the national approaches of, inter alia, the United States, Israel, Spain, Russia, and India. This multidisciplinary course focuses on the dual interlocking axes of legal norms [flowing from international as well as national perspective] and the accompanying political and operational imperatives. Counterterrorism is a global cooperative phenomenon, and the study of its practice entails the use of case-law, legislation, international law, and national policy directives and operational decisions. Students will be exposed to case-law from a number of jurisdictions, reaching occasionally contradictory results. The course will also entail extended use of scenario driven exercises.
Taught by Michael A. Newton, Acting Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School.
International Law: The International Arbitral Process (2 credit hours)
This course is designed to acquaint students in the understanding of both public and private international law rules from an arbitral perspective. Special emphasis will be made on international economic law. Inquiry is made into the sources of international law and will include related bodies of rules involving more than one legal and political system. Hence, particular reference will be made to new sources of global law such as the Unidroit Principles for international commercial contracts and lex mercatoria. We will focus on the understanding of doctrines, institutions and applications using historical, political and jurisprudential perspectives. The topics employed to explore these themes include:
- Sources of international law
- The European Community Law experience
- The Hague Peace system for intergovernmental dispute settlement and ICJ
- WTO and economic disputes
- Mixed arbitration: State contracts; ICSID, the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and UNCC
- Transnational commercial arbitration.
Law and Development in Emerging Economies (2 credit hours)
This course will focus on the legal issues that surround the economic development of emerging economies, concentrating on such topics as:
- The impact of the law agricultural transformation and rural change
- The important legal issues surrounding foreign trade, international finance and direct foreign investment
- Whether legal structures assist or impede growth and improved standards of living for broader population groups.
Students will learn basic economic concepts but are not expected to have any prior training in economics. Taught by Randall S. Thomas, John S. Beasley II Professor of Law and Business; Director, Law & Business Program; Director, Vanderbilt-in-Venice Program; Professor of Management, Vanderbilt Law School.
