Media, Law and Technology Certificate

Overview

The Media, Law and Technology Certificate program gives students an opportunity to advance their practical knowledge and skill in diverse legal subjects that are at the heart of media law practice. Subjects covered relate to traditional media, such as print publishing and television broadcasting, as well as to the latest forms of electronic and Web-based media.

Certificate courses also offer insights into how laws and public policies may constrain or advance expressive freedom through the communications media and shape information technology and global communications networks.  

The certificate additionally provides an opportunity to examine the effects of media on the bench and bar, as well as on legislatures.  Through news, advertising, film, literature, Internet postings and the like, media illuminate or scrutinize the work of lawyers, judges and legislators.  In the certificate program, students may learn how to interact with media ethically and in the public interest.

Certificate Requirements

Students who intend to pursue a certificate program should complete the Declaration Form. The form deadline for your intention to pursue a certificate is November 1st of your 3L year, though you may certainly do so at an earlier point. If you fail to meet the requirements of the certificate by the time you graduate, you will not earn the certificate.

In addition to all other J.D. degree requirements, students must complete the requirements below to earn the Media, Law and Technology Certificate.

Core Courses

Complete all three of these courses:

• Global Data Protection Law
• Intellectual Property
• Media and the First Amendment

Supplements to the Core

Complete any two of the following:

• Copyright Law in a Digital Age
• Elections and Campaign Finance
• Patent Law
• Patent Practice

Experiential Course

Complete the following:

• First Amendment Advocacy or an approved alternate

A certificate candidate may request approval of an alternate experiential course if it relates to legal practice in the field of Media, Law and Technology. For example, a certificate candidate could request approval of a field placement with an organization that addresses First Amendment issues. Another example is Contract Drafting. As a simulation course, it could be completed by a candidate seeking to develop skills needed to prepare intellectual property licensing agreements.

Interest Area Courses

Complete any two of the following:

• Administrative Law
• Complex Litigation
• Civil Rights Actions
• Consumer Law
• Employment Law
• Federal Courts and the Federal System
• Legislation and Statutory Interpretation
• Local Government Law
• Special Topics: State Constitutional Law

Course descriptions

The certificate program director, subject to School of Law policies and procedures, may authorize course substitutions under certain conditions. For example, if a certificate candidate has completed an extra course in the category of core, supplements or interest areas, the extra one may be substituted for a certificate course that the candidate needs but cannot take because of an unresolvable scheduling conflict.

Also, a candidate may ask to count a course not listed in the category of core, supplements or interest areas if that course includes an opportunity to address a subject related to listed courses. For example, courses that are not listed but may include an opportunity to address media, First Amendment, privacy or intellectual property law issues include Independent Research, Judicial Field Placement, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy II, Law Review, Special Topics or Moot Court Competition. Another possibility could be enrollment in a graduate-level course outside the School of Law. Approval of such a course is subject to academic regulations.