This 30-hour class is dispensed at the Parsons School of Design in Paris in the Design and Management Program.

    It is intended to introduced the students to challenge students to reflect upon the relationships between design and law, in philosophical and economic as well as practical terms.

    The students will be introduced to legal issues arising in a range of contexts in which designers may be involved: industry, commerce and communications.

    In particular, the readings and discussion cover the creation of rights to designs, their protection and exploitation internationally, and the liabilities to which designers are exposed.

    In addition, legal issues arising in connection with working as a designer internationally will be treated with a view to equipping students to approach negotiations of employment and licensing contracts.

    For each class, students should choose topics from the list for each session and prepare a written report (300-500 words) summarizing and evaluating the texts chosen. The reports will be used as focal points for class presentations and discussions and will constitute one of the bases of evaluation.
 
 

Session 1 - On the relations between law and design, and law and art

The law by design:

Natural Law and Natural Design, by Teresa Mia Bejan

From the book of readings:
Roman law, canon law, liberalism, socialism

The law as art:

W. H. Auden, Law like love
La justice en images I
La justice en images II

The law in literature:

From the book of readings:
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
Montaigne, Of experience
Emile Zola, J'accuse
Hermman Melville, Moby Dick
Gandhi, A plea for the severest penalty upon his conviction for sedition
Celebrated cases of Judge Dee

The law as drama:

The O.J. Simpson Trial
The trial of O.J. Simpson
The Bill Clinton Impeachment Trial
The impeachment trial of Bill Clinton

Assignment 1:

What does it mean to "design" a law?

Assignment 2:
Comment the flow chart of the decision-making process of the European Union.
 

Session 2 - Introduction to intellectual property

World Intellectual Property Organisation, What is intellectual property
(Gateway setion)
Patents
Utility Models
Industrial designs
Trademarks
Know How
Copyrights
Software
Data bases
Microprocessor designs
Plant varieties

Assignment 3:

For the country of which you are a citizen or a resident, find on the web the laws that protect designs (usually the Patent Law and the Copyright Law). Scan those laws for the word "design" and print out each article of those laws that contains that word. Bring the results to class. Compare the results for your country with the definitions of designs on the WIPO site.
 

Session 3 - The economics underlying the law of intellectual property

Whales Get Beached, Don't They? An Essay on the Law and Economics of Copyrights in Music
by Daniel A. Laprès, Lex Electronica, vol. 9, n°3, Été 2004

From the book of readings:
WTO statistics for royalties and license fees

Assignment 4:

Identify a debate over the imposition of a standard to a communications or design process. Point out the underlying economic issues and the interests and manners of intervention of their promoters.
 

Sessions 4 and 5 - The meaning and protection of creativity in law

The overlap between design and copyright law, by Ian McDonald
Where to draw the copyright/design boundary, by Kumaran & Sagar, Delhi

Assignments 5 and 6:

Prepare written reports on each of the following cases identifying the relevant facts, the decisive issues and the legal reasoning. Evaluate the results of each case:

Burrow-Giles Lithographic
Bleistein
Kuddle Toy
Batlin & Son
John Muller
Kitchens of Sara Lee
Kieselstein-Cord
Carol Barnhart
Coca Cola
Gallo Wines
My Sweet Lord
Steven Stealberg
Xerox v Apple
The protection of typeface
 

Session 6 - Procedures for protecting designs

France, Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle, déposer une marque http://www.inpi.fr/fr/dessins-et-modeles/deposer-un-dessin-et-modele.html

European Union,Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs

Guillaume Montreux, Registered and unregistered Community design compared

Assignment 7:

Research what are the procedures for registering a design in your country. Bring a completed application form with attachments and quantify the charges. For how long is the registration valid? May it be renewed? On what conditions?
 

Session 7  - Introduction to the protection of intellectual property internationally

Researching Intellectual Property Law in an International Context, by Stefanie Weigmann
http://www.wipo.int/hague/en/legal_texts/ The Hague régime

Assignment 8:

Ascertain what treaties your country has signed for the protection of designs. What provisions are there for international extensions of those registrations? At what cost?
 

Sessions 8 and 9 - General principles of contract

Woolley - Munple - Marvin - Denney

Lucy - Lefkowitz -Hodge - Konic - Bovard

For want of a signature, $ 500,000 lost
 

Session 10 - Agency law

Pro Golf - Reyes - Chester - Wolfe

Kanavos - Simmons - O'Boyle - Detroit Pure Milk
 

Session 11 - Product Liability

Koperwas   Gowen  Anderson   Martin    Laaperi
 

Session 12 - Licensing

Articles 81 and 82 of the consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community

Red Owl - Bates - Mattis

From the book of readings:
 

Session 13 - e-commerce

Prepare case reports on these cases:
Judas Priest - Affaire Yahoo

Assignment 9:

Une société française Fashion Heaven lance une activité d'achat et de vente de vêtements et d'accessoires de grandes marques françaises.

La société s'approvisionne en marchandises dans des solderies à Paris moyennant quoi elle les achète à des prix correspondant à environ 10% du prix de détail original.

Ces marchandises sont authentiques en ce qu'elles sont introduites dans le commerce par les titulaires de marques eux-mêmes. Mais considérant que ce sont des marchandises soldées (fins de séries, marchandises légèrement défectueuses, etc.), elles sont vendues aux soldeurs à des prix extrêmement bas.

La société Fashion Heaven les revend sur e-bay.com et ebay.fr. Pour la promotion des articles offerts sur ebay, le persponnel de la société réalise ses propres photos des produits et, en plus, achète des photos "runway" auprès de sociétés spécialisées. Pour chaque article proposé sur le site d'ebay, elle écrit un texte promotionnel affiché sur ebay dans lequel est mentionnée la marque du produit offert. Les textse vantent la qualité des produits et la renommée de la marque pour mieux vendre les produits. Rien ne transparaît dans les textes sur ebay sur le fait que les produits offerts sont du "second choix".

La société Fashion Heaven réalise des marges très importantes et développe un commerce florissant.

Mais au fil des mois, de plus en plus de produits contrefaits font leur apparition sur ebay jusqu'à en noyer le site d'ebay sans que le consommateur non spécialisé puisse aisément distinguer les produits authentiques des produits contrefaits.

Sous les menaces chaque jour plus graves des titulaires des grandes marques, ebay décide d'interdire toutes les ventes de vêtements de marques par des fournisseurs autres que les titulaires des marques elles-mêmes ou leurs concessionnaires officiels.

Du jour au lendemain, Fashion Heaven est interdite d'accès au site d'ebay et son chiffre d'affaire tombe à zéro.

Est-ce que la société Fashion Heaven a des recours? Contre qui? Avec quelles chances de succès?
 

Session 14 - Negotiating international design services and design-related contracts

From the book of readings:
 
 

Session 15 - Ethics and law in international business

Vokes - Lefkowitz - Reed - Cross - Pillsbury - Henry Ford