Global Media and Communications Law

About

Due to current developments around the COVID-19 pandemic we have made the difficult decision to postpone summer study programmes at UEA for 2020, and have closed all applications. Details regarding future programmes will be released in due course.

Please email summerstudyabroad@uea.ac.uk with any queries, and register your interest for future short term study programmes on our website.

Increased access to the Internet has played a significant role in how media industries and governments regulate the media and the laws surrounding it. Many have predicted that the Internet will make borders less relevant, yet many states continue to regulate both established media (print, broadcast) as well as new media, leading to concerns about human rights.

The module explores the pertinent challenge posed by the ‘information society’ in our contemporary world. We will investigate the increasingly globalised and integrated media industries, looking to the rule of law and to national legal systems.

Topics covered will include media regulation, electronic commerce, human rights, global governance of the Internet, and disputes between states as to the extent to which national laws apply to transnational messages and transactions. Students will also be introduced to the innovative research taking place in the media@uea centre and encouraged to discuss the legal systems of their own nations.

Field trips may include:
Visit and tour of Royal Courts of Justice and The Supreme Court.

Course leader

Dr Angelika Reichstein

Target group

Students should have experienced some study of law but not necessarily a law degree. Students should come equipped with an interest in learning about Global Media and Communications Law.

Course aim

By the end of this module students will:

- Have developed their understanding of the role of law (ranging from human rights to commercial) in controlling, influencing or encouraging forms of expression and communication.
- Have learnt to appreciate the differences between media and between different technologies from legal, social, cultural and economic points of view.
- Have learnt to explain how courts and legislators try to ‘balance’ competing interests e.g. speech and privacy, national culture and transnational markets.

Fee info