Professor Richard H. Stern
Term Papers
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Computer Law 484 Professor Richard H. Stern Term Papers |
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Last major update 1-11-06
Please ask questions about term papers for this course only after you have read this page and thought about it. This page tries to cover most FAQ.
Papers must relate to the application of the principles of U.S. copyright or patent law to determining the appropriate nature, scope, and exercise of rights to protection of computer software (or of features or aspects of computer software). Internet privacy and first amendment issues, for example, are not suitable topics. Contract law issues (except for IP preemption) are not suitable topics. Trademark issues are not suitable topics. As a rule of thumb, if it is not in or suggested by the course syllabus, it probably is not a suitable topic.
Students may find topics they wish to explore suggested in the notes in the casebook. Case notes on recent CAFC opinions or other recent court decisions also are appropriate.
Papers comparing U.S. law with foreign law are acceptable, but my experience is that such papers tend not to work out very well. Comparative law papers usually do not work, because they tend to end up a mechanical recitation of existing precedent. LLM students should avoid the temptation to try to fall back on such topics.
Develop and support a personal thesis of some sort; don't just recount a summary of what cases have held without anlyzing them and, if appropriate, criticizing. Support your ideas by analysis and, if possible, data. It is not necessary to support the totally obvious with a footnote, but do not make generalizations that cannot be supported by footnotes. If you feel that your idea is correct even though unsupportable by citation, just say that you are aware of the problem, but this is what you think and why you think so. If you do not have a reason why you think so, maybe you should reconsider whether the statement is sound.
Writing style and originality in analysis count very heavily. Do not just regurgitate a precis of the existing caselaw. State your own ideas (but support them).
In any case, originality in thinking is valued. Regurgitation of the ideas of others is disvalued. Avoid citation of secondary sources (law reviews, A.L.R., C.J.S.). Use primary sources (F.3d, U.S., U.S.C.). Don't get your research second-hand from somebody else; read the cases yourself.
Here is an example of a good undergraduate term paper from a few years ago. Nick Szabo, Elemental Subject Matter.
In writing your paper, please remember the GWLS rules about originality in papers. Please read carefully the Law School's citation policy ("Citing Responsibly / A Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism") as stated in this GWLS Academic Integrity Web page. In addition, see generally this excellent discussion that the University of Wisconsin has provided.
Do not select a paper topic for purposes of submitting the same paper for two different courses. That is considered very bad form and no good will come of it. Do not recycle an old paper. (Same reasons.)
Your paper should contain at the end (after the word count and not included in the word count) the following statement:
On my honor, I submit this work in good faith and pledge that I have neither given nor received improper aid in its completion. In addition, I certify that I have read the GWLS Web page at "www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/Documents/Academic%20Integrity/0809_citingresponsibly.pdf" and believe that I have complied with its directions.
____________________________
Proposed topics with a 25-word summary or explanation may be submitted in writing by the fifth week of classes. A preliminary draft (max. 5 pp.) may be submitted by the tenth week. 'May' means it's optional.
More than one student may write on the same topic. There is no exclusivity to be concerned about.
Final versions of papers must be turned in during or before the last class session before the examinations period begin. Hand your paper in by personal service. Do not leave it in the mail box in Records. (That could be like tossing it into a black hole.)
Please follow this format.
Ordinarily, your paper (if not for JD requirement) should be approximately 4500-6000 words — target 5500 words — on 8.5" x 11" paper with 1" margins all around. Please put at the end of the paper a statement to the following effect: "I checked the word count for this paper using that function in the spell checker for Word Perfect 10 [or whatever word processor you used] and it indicated 5345 words."
The text should be in 13 point Times New Roman, Palatino, or other serif proportional font. (Do not use Courier or other monotype font; do not use a smaller font.) Footnotes should be at least 12 points and on the same page with the corresponding text; do not use endnotes. (A bibliography, if desired, may be placed at the end of the paper. Do not include it in the word count.)
Single spacing is perfectly all right, but skip a line between paragraphs. Don't double space your footnotes, even if you double space the text.
The pages should be full-justified, not left-justified. Text should be hyphenated. Use captions and sub-headings in boldface.
Use a spell checker! Errors in spelling give readers a misimpression that you don't know what you are talking about or don't care very much what you offer up to them.
Use italics in citations; do not underline in lieu of italics ... especially if or where you single space. (Underlining citations in single-spaced footnotes is guaranteed to madden the reader.)
Please follow Blue Book rules. A helpful
guide to citation of WWW material is found at a Columbia University Web site.
A helpful guide to style for legal term papers
Hard copy (paper rather than electronic) copy is required. Absent a grave emergency, do not use email to submit your paper.
Term Papers: Standards, Requirements
Subject matter:
Do not quote without attribution, and especially do not fail to indicate that something is a quotation or paraphrase of something taken from someone else's work. Also, when an idea is taken from another's work and is expressed in different words, do not fail to attribute appropriately. 17 U.S.C. sec. 102(b) does not count in this context. The safest rule is that, when in doubt, cite.
The defense of subconscious plagiarism is not effective, either. George Harrison got dinged for it, and so may you. See ABKCO Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 722 F.2d 988 (2d Cir. 1983) ("My Sweet Lord" case).
So-called patchwriting is also impermissible.
The Law School takes an extremely dim view of users of The Evil House of Cheat and Fast Papers.
(Signature of Student)
The student making this statement may use an identifying number in place of a signature, if preservation of anonymity is desired.
Trial balloons and due date:
If you are graduating and want your grade turned in early, you may wish to hand your paper in earlier than the last week of classes. If so, put a note on the cover or otherwise where it will be noticed, saying that you are graduating.Format:
JD Writing Requirement:
You cannot satisfy the upper-level writing requirement with just a longer paper. You can do that, or get an additional credit point, only by enrolling in an additional course, Independent Legal Writing (Course No 656), adding 15 additional pages (4000 words( for each additional credit and by complying with the additional requirements of that course.
A research paper submitted to satisfy the upper level writing requirement must be at least 8,000 words in length, including footnotes. The topic must be approved in advance. For this course, it must relate to derivative works (see chapter 6) or patent-eligible subject matter. Approval of the topic should use a target date of eight weeks before the last day of class for this course.
An outline should be submitted, six weeks before the last day of class for this course, to be followed (optionally) by a draft, four weeks before the last day of class for this course.. The purpose of a draft, submitted during the course of the semester, is to allow the student the opportunity (if desired) to improve the paper.
The law school requires that a research paper must receive a grade of "B-" or better to fulfill the legal writing requirement. If the paper receives a passing grade lower than "B-" the student will be given credit toward the degree, but the legal writing requirement will not be fulfilled.
Look through the chapters at the end of the casebook for ideas for possible term paper topics. Consider also the questions raised in the Notes at the ends of most of the case reprints in the casebook.
Possible paper topic for non-techies: What are the limits of the Commerce and Neccessary/Proper Clauses when it comes to IP legislation? To make a decent paper, it would be necessary to go beyond the general and proceed to something quite specific, such as a law against Feist or a law creating rights in ideas and systems. See generally Julie E. Cohen, Copyright and the Jurisprudence of Self-Help, 13 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 1089, 1131-32 (1998); William Patry, The Enumerated Powers Doctrine and Intellectual Property: An Imminent Constitutional Collision, 67 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 359 (1999).
Another helpful source of such material and ideas is a brief that 46 law professors filed as amici curiae in the DeCss case. They argued that the Anti-Circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are unconstitutional. The following is the summary of argument in their brief:
Congress may legislate only pursuant to a power specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Neither the text nor the legislative history of the DMCA indicates which power Congress relied on to enact the anti-device provisions. Even if Congress had specified a particular source of constitutional authority, however, it would not matter. The DMCA's anti-device provisions are not a valid exercise of any of Congress' enumerated powers. They prohibit devices without regard for originality, duration of copyright, or infringement of copyright in the underlying, technologically-protected work; therefore, they are not a valid exercise of the intellectual property power. Nor are they a lawful exercise of the necessary and proper power or the commerce power, because they contravene specific limits on Congress' power under the Intellectual Property Clause. As a separate ground of invalidity, the anti-device provisions also violate limits on the scope of copyright protection required by the First Amendment.
Link to Law Professors' Amici Brief in DeCSS Case. You may find some of their arguments about DMCA suggestive as to Congress' power to legislate in other ways to change intellectual property law -- for example, to overturn Feist or to overturn other IP "fundamentals" cases -- or to expand the protection of "inventions."
Another possible non-technical topic: What, if anything, do nearly two and a half millennia of study and analysis of Euthyphro teach us about solving the Willow River problem, particularly in the context of determining what should be enforceable IP rights in Third Millenium digital information?
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