Media, Law & Technology

Recommended Upper-Level Courses:

• Administrative Law
• Civil Rights Actions
• Copyright Law in a Digital Age
• Elections and Campaign Finance
• Federal Courts and the Federal System
• First Amendment Advocacy
• Global Data Protection and Privacy Law
• Intellectual Property
• Judicial Field Placement Program
• Legislative Simulation and Study
• Legislation and Statutory Interpretation
• Local Government Law
• Media and the First Amendment
• Patent Law
• Product Liability
• Public Policy Practicum

Course descriptions

First Amendment Advocacy

In the First Amendment Advocacy practicum course, students develop the skills and knowledge needed to become First Amendment advocates. Assignments include research and analysis of media-related law, regulation and public policy. 

The Media, Law and Technology Certificate focuses on legislative challenges, judicial decision-making and administrative policy in an era increasingly shaped by information technology, global networks and the media.

Students complete core courses in Global Data Protection and Privacy Law, Intellectual Property, and Media and the First Amendment. They choose from a menu of related courses and hands-on learning opportunities to complete the certificate program.

The JD/MS in Journalism is one of 10 joint degree programs available to KU Law students. Offered in collaboration with the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the program is designed to offer students an academic grounding in both law and journalism, and to prepare them for the practice of law, journalism or media law.

The Media, Law & Technology program supports the annual Media & the Law Seminar. Lawyers from across the U.S. attend the conference, along with judges, journalists, students and members of the public. 

Students interested in media and the law also have the opportunity to participate in the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition.

The law school's program in this area started in 1998, when Professor Emeritus Mike Kautsch developed a program on Media, Law and Policy at KU Law. In 2011, the name of the program was changed to Media, Law and Technology to adapt to the growing influence of technology in the reporting and gathering of news.

In addition to full-time faculty teaching courses on related topics including Administrative Law, Intellectual Property, Patent Law, and the Public Policy Practicum, several adjunct faculty bring expertise in media law to this subject area. Adjunct faculty in the media, law and technology program include:

• Laura Clark Fey
• Mark Johnson
• Max Kautsch

Full faculty list