Course description
The LLM in Media Law is a specialist masters programme, new from 2007-08, designed for recent graduates in law or in journalism, either practising lawyers or employees of print and broadcast media organisations.
The programme consists of five compulsory taught modules (in privacy, contempt of court, defamation, offensive speech, and intellectual property & competition law), plus a 15,000-20,000 word dissertation. Each taught module is assessed by a 2 hour unseen examination.
Teaching is provided on weekday evenings or in weekend blocks to assist those in full-time employment to attend.
Taught modules:
Privacy: Values underlying the notion of a right to privacy; privacy as a constitutional issue; breach of confidence; privacy in public places: the US/European divide; celebrity, publicity and "waiver" of privacy rights; privacy and freedom of speech; privacy in an era of the cult of celebrity. Taught by Professor Gavin Phillipson.
Contempt of Court: Freedom of expression and the administration of justice; sub judice contempt; prior restraints and automatic reporting restrictions; journalists' sources; national contempt laws and the EHCR; protection of expression interests under the First Amendment and under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Taught by Ian Cram.
Defamation: Defamatory material; truth as a defence; fair comment; absolute privilege; qualified privilege - orthodox principles; Sullivan v New York Times; post-Sullivan libel law under the First Amendment; political libel in English law and the ECHR. Taught by Professor Ian Loveland.
Offensive Speech: Obscenity, blasphemy and race and religious hatred in domestic law and the ECHR; obscenity, blasphemy and race and religious hatred under the First Amendment; time, manner, place restrictions under domestic law and the ECHR and under the First Amendment; regulation of broadcasting and the internet on grounds of offence-avoidance under domestic and ECHR law; film censorship in domestic law and under the ECHR. Taught by Professor Ian Loveland & Professor Helen Fenwick.
Intellectual Property & Competition Law: History and regulatory framework of competition law; tools and economics of competition; media ownership regulation in retrospect; Communications Act 2003: the modern economics and public interest tests; the forms of copyright; originality as a ground for affording copyright protection; infringement; S.58 Copyright Designs and Patent Acts 1988. Taught by Gary Scanlan and Dan Wilsher.
Assessment: Each taught module will be assessed by one 2-hour examination. The dissertation must also be passed for the award of the LLM degree. Full-time students undertaking the course in one year will normally be expected to complete this in the summer period, while part-time students will normally be expected to complete it in the summer period of the second year or during their third year of studies.
