Protecting Business Innovations via Copyright (Coursera)

This course provides learners with an understanding of Copyright law and how it can be used to protect business innovation. The course focus is on protecting innovations with copyright as one of several tools that can be used by companies and individuals to protect creative innovations. In additional to learning about how copyright works in theory, we will also discuss situations in which copyright might not be effective in protecting innovations, and will focus on the legal issues involved from a practical business perspective rather than from a purely legal viewpoint. This course is one part of a four course series focusing on protection of business innovations using copyright, patent, trademark and strategy, and these four courses may be taken in any order that is most beneficial to students interested in learning about protecting innovation.

Other courses in the Protecting Business Innovations series:

1. Copyright: Protecting Business Innovations via Copyright

2. Trademark: Protecting Business Innovations via Trademark

3. Patent: Protecting Business Innovations via Patent

4. Strategy: Protecting Business Innovations via Strategy

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Introduction to Copyright

Welcome to this course on Protecting Business Innovations via Copyright! How do companies protect their intellectual property, creative innovations and ensure they keep their customers happy? Over the next four weeks you will gain insight on how companies navigate the world of Copyright, Copyright limitations, Derivative work and Software Protection. As you go through the materials, you may have your own copyright related questions or scenarios that pop-up, feel free to post them in the discussion forum so we can try to apply strategic approaches learned in the course. Take some time to review the assignments, grading and general course guidelines for this course. Week 1 will cover the basics of copyright and will introduce the general terms that will be used in later weeks.

WEEK 2

Copyright Limitations

Fair use is the largest area of exceptions of copyright. It is not a right, it is a defense. This week will cover the rules of fair use, how companies apply it, fair use limitations and will introduce more copyright limitations you should be aware of.

WEEK 3

Derivative Work & Parody

This will explore other rights within Copyright Law. I will introduce derivative works and parody with lots of interesting examples like the Beach Boys, Weird Al and Annoying Orange. We encourage you to interact with the examples by going to YouTube or other suggested sites to view them as you go through the lecture videos.

WEEK 4

Protecting Software Innovations

Software innovations is a special area of Copyright. This will week cover how companies protect software innovations with case studies like video games and Virtual Reality software. It will also cover the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which is a US Law but how it can affect companies around the world. Find out how companies navigate the interesting world of software and DMCA.

WEEK 5

Final Exam

You've reached the final exam week! Complete the final exam and post-course survey. Your feedback can help us improve future iterations of the course. Good luck on the exam and hope to see you in ALL our upcoming courses for Protecting Business Innovations via: Copyright, Patent, Trademark and Strategy