“However terrible life may be, the very existence of creative activity—with no other purpose than itself—is enough to justify it. Play, of course, seems at first glance to be the least useful of our actions, but it becomes the most useful as soon as we realize that it heightens our zest for life and makes us forget death.”
Elie Faure, The Spirit of Forms, Volume II, Pauvert
“Without culture—and the relative freedom it implies—society, even a perfect one, is nothing but a jungle. That is why all authentic creation is a gift to the future.”
Albert Camus, Actuelles II, The Artist and His Time, Gallimard
This master’s program is designed for anyone with a passion for creativity and communication who wishes to understand the legal issues and mechanisms involved.
It is the creative process, as well as the result of that process, that lies at the heart of the curriculum for the Master’s program in Intellectual Property and Digital Law.
The subject matter of this law is intellectual creation, and the mechanisms for addressing it are those of intellectual property law, which is conceived as a specialized branch of law that nevertheless intersects with the principles of general law (tort law, contract law, property law, etc.).
What matters is creation —whether it be traditional or innovative: transformative works, musical or olfactory trademarks, plant varieties, business “tricks”…—creation grappling with contemporary questions and challenges: the online dissemination of hateful content, illegal downloading, filtering and net neutrality, collaborative platforms,open data,open innovation, open source, etc.
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Cross-functional approach
The teaching approach is thus designed to be interdisciplinary and therefore covers all areas of intellectual property.
The following topics are covered:
- copyright,
- the rights of performing artists,
- design law,
- patent law,
- trademark law,
- plant variety rights,
- and finally, database law.
This approach stems from the practical reality that a legal situation is rarely confined to a single area of intellectual property.
We are witnessing necessary intersections that require the specialized legal professional to master the interplay of these mechanisms. It would be inconceivable, for example, to analyze a case involving design or ready-to-wear fashion without simultaneously considering copyright law, design law, and trademark law.
Digitization
Moreover, the philosophy of education is comprehensive in this era of digitization: for example, genetic resources, just like museum artifacts, are intended to be incorporated into digital databases that can then be shared via communication networks…
Intellectual property law is therefore now inextricably linked to information and communication technology (ICT) law, or digital law. The various projects involving digital libraries or the dissemination of scientific information through open science are concrete and timely examples of this.
Beyond that, the dissemination of information is also a focus of attention, both in terms of liability issues (particularly regarding technical service providers) and with regard to the protection of personal data.
Ubiquity
Finally, as an intangible asset, intellectual creation has a ubiquitous dimension—one that has been amplifiedby the digital revolution—which complicates the application of national (or territorial) rules and thus requires an understanding of the rules of public and private international law.
Specialized legal professionals are therefore also confronted with the international dimension of intellectual property and must, in particular, be well-versed in European Union law.
- Is the online infringement of a trademark via an online marketplace or e-commerce platform accessible from France governed by French law or by another legal system?
- Which court has jurisdiction when the offense involves multiple locations?
All of these issues justify the program’s emphasis—which it does place—on both international law and the procedural law specific to intellectual property law.
