Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
| The following are some common questions that I've encountered from students in my courses that may be of value to you. |
1. How much time should I spend studying for this course each week? The answer to this question will vary from one student to another, but in general, you should probably be prepared to spend about 3 hours per week in order to read the assigned materials. Some of the topics covered are complex and may require a greater amount of time to comprehend than other topics so you may need to spend a greater amount of time on this course at times. 2. Where can I look things up if I'm confused? In addition to text or assigned materials, there are many sources of information available online. However, you should always be careful in relying on information you find online since anyone can post information on a website and there are many self-proclaimed experts that post information that is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete. When in doubt, please do not hesitate to ask me. Also, I have a list of online resources on intellectual property, entertainment law and Internet law subjects at www.copyrightguru.com/links. Although I can't guarantee that all of the information on these sites is accurate, I have found them to be good sources of information. Yes, you will be tested on every single thing I say, imply or even think about. OK, that's a slight exaggeration. Instead, any material covered in class and in any assigned reading materials (text, articles, etc.) may be tested unless I specifically say otherwise. 4. Do I need to memorize case names and dates? Generally not. I am much more interested in your ability to think critically and to apply concepts and rules of law covered by cases and other materials than in your ability to memorize names and dates. However, there may be a few important case names or dates that I expect you to know (a good tipoff is if I repeatedly emphasize them in class). 5. What can I do to get a better grade on future exams? Although I can’t guarantee better grades, I can provide some suggestions. First, do the work required for the course (i.e., show up regularly and pay attention in class, read all assigned materials and ask questions if there’s anything you don’t understand). Second, read the exam questions carefully and answer only what is asked. Do not get creative and invent your own questions rather than answering mine. If you follow the first two suggestions and still aren’t satisfied with your grades, come see me to discuss what you might be neglecting or how you might be able to improve. Although I will not arbitrarily change any grade you receive, I will be happy to discuss any mistakes you made and try to help you avoid making similar mistakes in the future. Obviously, in order for this to be of much benefit, you should see me sooner rather than later (e.g., if you wait till the day of or before the final exam, there’s not much I can do to help). 6. Can I do something for extra credit to improve a test score I'm not satisfied with? Generally no. I've tried doing this in the past and have found it to be a waste of time since students will usually throw something together at the last minute and expect a large improvement in their grade. I also had one situation where a student turned in a paper which was clearly plagiarized (and obviously thought I was too ignorant to find the source online). I'm not implying that this would commonly occur, but I think you're better off spending extra time studying for the next exam and improving your grade that way. I do often give a slight amount of extra credit for exceptional attendance and participation at the end of the semester when determining your grade for the course. Although not necessarily indicative of success in law school or as an attorney, law schools basically look at two things in selecting students for admission - your undergraduate G.P.A and your LSAT score. Law school admission, especially at the highly ranked law schools, is exceptionally competitive. You can't really study for the LSAT since its kind of like an IQ test, but you can practice taking the test (old test questions are available in books & probably online somewhere). There are also review courses which may be helpful (I don't know for sure since I didn't take one). As far as being an entertainment attorney, that’s even more competitive. My best advice is to get some experience however you can (e.g., internship, work for free, etc.). Also, learn as much as you can about the entertainment business since the best entertainment attorneys tend to have a strong understanding of how the business works and how it is structured. There are quite a few good books dealing with the music/entertainment business. There are also many good resources online. Don't wait until you graduate from law school and expect to get a law firm to hire you as an entertainment attorney since the odds of that are next to zero. |
