Study information

Art and Law

Module titleArt and Law
Module codeLAW3102
Academic year2019/0
Credits15
Module staff

Dr Andrea Wallace (Convenor)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

20

Module description

Art and Law is a course that examines how art engages with and is influenced by a breadth of legal areas including but not limited to intellectual property law, cultural heritage law, information law, contract law, criminal law, public international law, and private international law.

Through various sources, both traditional and alternative, you will explore how the law and its intersecting components function (or dysfunction) during the generation of cultural content, especially in an online environment. The ‘reading list’ will include films and documentaries, online articles and exhibitions, social media accounts, and case law and scholarly commentary on emerging issues in art and law. Through innovative teaching and assessment methods, you will develop and strengthen your capacity for analytical, critical, and imaginative thinking, which are essential skills for effective and persuasive argumentation, legal or otherwise.

Students will not be required to have prior knowledge or to have taken any pre-requisites or co-requisites for this module, which is suitable for specialist and non-specialist students and will be particularly useful for students who are interested in developing an interdisciplinary approach to studies. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

  • The key aim of the module is to provide you with the opportunity to explore the rich relationship between various areas of law through art, thereby deepening your understanding of the intersections of law in general and especially its impact on cultural and social development.
  • The module also aims to provide you with interdisciplinary learning opportunities that will generate rich and stimulating engagements both with the material and peers.
  • With a portion of the assessment based on a creative work, the module aims to develop and strengthen your appreciation of how the law filters and facilitates cultural production. The essay component of the assessment criteria aims to enhance critical thinking and creative argumentation skills.
  • Throughout the module, you will be challenged to nurture creative and analytical capacities that are particularly valued by employers. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Demonstrate coherent and advanced knowledge and understanding of the relationship between law and cultural production
  • 2. Demonstrate a thorough and critical knowledge and understanding of various areas of law and visual arts scholarship, using a wide range of appropriate concepts, interpretative techniques and terminology
  • 3. Think critically and creatively through the production of an artistic output based on the application and critical analysis of relevant law and its practical application

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 4. Exercise critical thinking, judgment, and analysis concerning the assumptions and aspirations of law
  • 5. Select and explain relevant information from primary and secondary legal sources using appropriate interpretative techniques
  • 6. Engage with legal materials as a critical and creative reader

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 7. Identify, retrieve and use, independently and efficiently, a range of library-based and electronic resources with minimum guidance
  • 8. Manage time independently and efficiently in preparing for learning activities, to be proactive in developing your own learning, and to work independently within a limited time frame to complete a specified task

Syllabus plan

While the module’s precise content will vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

  • Introduction to Art and Law
  • Access to the Public Domain
  • Reuse of the Public Domain
  • Creativity in Art and the Law
  • Art and the Internet
  • Art and Social Media
  • Art and Innovation
  • Art and Appropriation
  • Graffiti and the Law
  • Performance Art and Law
  • Indigenous Artifacts and Cultural Content

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
371130

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities16.511 x 1.5 hour Lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities155 x 3 hour Seminars
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities5.5Film/on-site field trip activities
Guided independent study555 hours of reading before each lecture
Guided independent study30Seminar preparation
Guided Independent Study5Formative preparation
Guided Independent study23Consolidation of learning

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Short piece of creative work in the form of reuse of online material and reflective commentary in preparation of summative creative pieceImage + 250-500 words1-8Written comments; oral feedback available upon request

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Attendance and Participation10Must attend 80% of the course, engage in Lecture and Seminars 1-6Oral (throughout the course)
Creative work of two elements: (1) a creative work; and (2) reflective commentary on the work45e.g., appropriation or reuse of online content and 1,000-word commentary assessing its legality 1-8Written and oral (through the engaged critique method)
Essay4548-hour turnaround, 2,000 word essay1-8Written comments; oral feedback available on request
0
0
0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Attendance and ParticipationSee note below1-6NA
Creative work of two elements: (1) a creative works; and (2) reflective commentary on the workCreative work of two elements: (1) a creative work; and (2) reflective1-8August/September reassessment period
EssayEssay (2000 words)1-8August/September re-assessment period

Re-assessment notes

Attendance and participation mark will not be reassessed. This mark will be carried through from the term.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Books, chapters, and articles

Beilstein S, Permissions: A Survival Guide, Blunt Talk about Art as Intellectual Property (2006)

Gerstenblith P, Art, Cultural Heritage, and the Law (2012)

Kaplan S, ‘Technoheritage’ (2017) 105 California Law Review 1111

Krews C, ‘Museum Policies and Art Images: Conflicting Objective and Copyright Overreaching’ (2012) 22 Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal 795

Lessig L, Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy (2008)

Op den Kamp C and Hunter S, A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects (2018)

Sanderhoff M, Sharing is Caring (2014)

Schubert K and McClean D, Dear Images: Art, Copyright and Culture

Stokes S, Art and Copyright (2012)

Teilmann-Lock S, The Object of Copyright: A Conceptual History of Originals and Copies in Literature, Art and Design (Routledge 2016)

Wallace A and Deazley R, Display At Your Own Risk: An experimental investigation of digital cultural heritage (2016)

Won Yin Wong W, Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade (2013)

 

Audiovisual reources


Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Don Argott, The Art of the Steal (2009)

Will.i.am, Mona Lisa Smile (2017)

99% Invisible, No. 225: ‘Photo Credit: Negatives of the Bauhaus’ (2016)

The Artsy Podcast, No. 32: ‘The Law Shaking Up The Art World’ (2017)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Wallace A and Deazley R, Display At Your Own Risk (2016)

Roberts A, No Copyright Infringement Intended (2017)

Al-Badri N and Nelles N, The Other Nefertiti (2016)

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

@Medieval Reacts


Ugly Renaissance Babies


Katrijn Van Giel

 

Louis Vuitton and Jeff Koons ‘The Masters Collection’

 

Key words search

Art, cultural heritage, innovation

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

6

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

23/01/2018

Last revision date

20/12/18