Shyam Balganesh
Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law
1111 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
phone: 773-702-9578
email: balganesh@uchicago.edu

Current Year Courses

• 30711 2 Legal Research and Writing
  All first-year students participate in the legal research and writing program under the supervision of one of the six Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Laws. The work requires the student to become familiar with the standard tools and techniques of legal research and to write a series of memoranda and other documents representative of the lawyer's regular tasks. A prize, the Joseph Henry Beale Prize, is awarded for the outstanding written work in each legal writing section. The Bigelow Fellows also serve as tutor-advisors on an informal basis.
  Autumn (2) 1L, a
  
  
• 45812 1 Copyright Law: Theory and Policy
  This seminar will examine the theoretical foundations of the copyright system, tracing its evolution from a printers' monopoly to a full-blown property right in the modern context. The seminar will introduce students to various justificatory theories that are commonly employed in the copyright context and attempt to connect them to recent developments in the commercial world including digital distribution, peer production, fashion design, and fan fiction. In specific, discussions will center around incentive theory, Lockean labor theory, personality theory, common law copyright, and related variants. The seminar will also spend some time examining the ways in which copyright law differs from other forms of intellectual property rights and the theoretical and policy reasons behind these differences. Students do not need a background in intellectual property law, but some familiarity with the intellectual property system is encouraged. Additionally, students interested in doing some background reading to familiarize themselves with the copyright system should get in touch with the instructor in advance of the course for a short list of recommended readings. Grades are based on response papers and class participation.
  Spring (2)