welcome 2017.

This blog is meant to accompany the course 'International Law of Contemporary Media' that I will be teaching in the fall semester 2017 at the University of Lucerne and the University of Bern. 
For specific information about the rooms, schedule, etc., please consult the respective online learning platforms of OLAT and ILIAS.

The information of this blog will be generic and concern both courses. 

Description
The course provides an introduction to the current issues in the regulation of media at the international level, covering the pertinent human rights norms, the rules of the World Trade Organization, and the relevant topics of international telecommunications, Internet governance and intellectual property law. New digital media build the specific focus of the course.

Structure and participation

The course is structured into 13 weekly two-hour lectures with two interactive sessions in a debate format. Each student will be asked to participate in an interactive session at least once. This participation will be assessed and constitutes 30% of the final note.

The final exam is oral and 'open-book'.

Target audience
The books listed on the right-hand side of the blog are not necessarily part of the reading list. They are however relevant to the topics dealt with in the course and of potential interest to students eager to know more about digital media and their economic, social, political and cultural implications. All these books are made available under the creative commons licence and can be downloaded for non-commercial use free of charge.
I welcome you and look forward to an interesting course with fruitful discussions. 

The course is primarily directed at students of law at the master level. It is however also particularly suitable for media and communications studies or political science students, who would like to learn more about the international regulation of media, or who share a special interest in new media and their policy and legal implications.

Literature
There is no particular script or textbook needed for the course. The relevant to each session readings will be provided electronically. All links will be made available here on this blog, as well as on ILIAS and OLAT.

session 1. introduction to the course and overview of its core topics.

The objective of the first session of the course is to get you acquainted with contemporary media as a specific subject matter of regulation. Amongst others, questions to be addressed are: What are the economic and societal justifications for regulating media? Have these rationales been modified over time as the media landscape has profoundly changed? What is international media law? What are its building blocks and how are they reflected in the course's structure?

Organisational sides of the course will also be clarified and the pertinent questions answered.

Reading materials:
Flew, New Media: An Introduction
Sauvé and Steinfatt, Multilateral Rules on Trade and Culture (only pages 326-339; the entire article for session 9)

Optional:
Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, chapter 1 (background text; also useful for subsequent sessions)
Jenkins, Convergence? I Diverge
Burri, New Technologies, New Patterns of Consumer/Business Behaviour and Their Implications for Audiovisual Media Regulation

Note: Please, check the box on the right for the updated schedule of sessions.

Here are the slides of session 1.