Investigation of the laws and legal rights relating to the development, protection, marketing, and home/business use of computer software.   Copyright laws, patent and trademark protection, privacy acts, security measures, and trade secrets are explored through analysis of job-related and home use of computer software.   The course will include development and analysis of written contracts, license agreements, warranty and liability disclaimers, and procedures for handling legal disputes.   Three lecture hours per week.   Credit for this course may not be applied to the major or minor in Computer Studies.   Not open to students who have received credit for CSC 120.
Prerequisite:   ITC 100 or equivalent.

Note:   This course was previously numbered CSC 120.

• Legal protection
      -- methods and techniques
• Trade secrets
      -- legal rights and remedies, registration, finding defects, failure to register
• Copyright protection
      -- establishing, registering, finding defects, failure to register
• Contracts
      -- written and oral contracts, negotiations, contract development vs. use of pre-printed contracts
• treatment of installation, delivery, maintenance, training, consulting, site/host preparation, enhancements
• Work-for-hire agreements and consulting contracts
• In-house and outright assignments, program and manual-writing contracts
• Evaluation forms
      -- acceptance letters, rejection letters, test-site questionnaires
• License agreements, royalties
• Trademarks
      -- conducting trademark searches, registering trademarks, state laws, international laws, transferring ownership
• Patents
      -- requirements, applications, liability
• Limiting liability
      -- warranties under Uniform Commercial Code, consumer protection, disclaimers
• Remedies
      -- how to approach a legal problem, bookkeeping procedures for legal disputes
• International law and computer software

      Class sessions will consist of lecture, demonstration and discussion. Student projects will be assigned, including researching special topics, creating original contracts and agreements, and evaluating and modifying existing agreements.   There will be several in-class quizzes and a comprehensive final examination.

• Remer, Daniel (Attorney).   Legal Care for Your Software.   Fourth Edition.   (Nolo Press, 1988)
• Fakes, Arthur.   Negotiating Software License Agreements.   (Data Tech Institute, 1991)