CODE IP Trust and the GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi are members of the CopyrightX community, a growing network of affiliated courses offered by various institutions around the world each year. CopyrightX is a twelve-week networked course, offered from January/February to April/May each year under the auspices of Harvard Law School, the HarvardX distance-learning initiative, and the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society. The course explores the current law of copyright mainly in the US and Kenya but also elsewhere in the world; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how intellectual property (IP) law should be reformed. Through a combination of recorded lectures presented by leading IP scholar Prof. William Fisher, assigned readings, weekly classroom seminars, participants taking the course in Nairobi examine and assess the ways in which the copyright system seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression.
CopyrightX is an excellent opportunity for those in the creative economy to enrich their knowledge and understanding of copyright. The classroom seminars will discuss the pre-recorded lectures and will more closely analyse Kenyan copyright law and the issues faced by creative sector entrepreneurs on the ground. So, why do the CopyrightX course? First, the course is free of charge. Second, there is a Harvard certificate awarded on successful completion of the course. More importantly, each and every one of the 12 lectures is a reason on its own to apply for the course. Selected participants will have the rare opportunity to delve into all aspects of copyright including its legal foundations, philosophical rationales, subject matter of copyright, mechanics of copyright, fair dealing and fair use, moral rights, traditional knowledge protection, secondary liability, technological protection measures, damages, injunctions and crimes based on copyright laws in the United States and Kenya.
Interested applicants are invited to submit a motivation letter of approximately 300 words or less detailing current profession, reasons for wanting to participate in CopyrightX, and how the course will be useful to them. Furthermore, applicants must make a commitment to actively participate in the course and attend the weekly seminars organised in Nairobi. All applications should be sent either to CopyrightX: Code IP Trust at: contentdevip@gmail.com or to CopyrightX: The GoDown via: cathymujomba@thegodownartscentre.com.**
**Editor’s Note: As of 9 January 2018, the call for applications for CopyrightX: The GoDown has closed.
